LI  E>  RARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of    ILLINOIS 

92.0.07731 
B522. 


ILLINOIS  BISTORICAL  SVBTMT 


c>u]i)rapinau  Nlxi^inii'^^ 


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BIOGMPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OP     THB 


LEADIIG  MES  OF  CHICAGO, 


)Vritten  by  the  ^est  Jalent  of  the  North- 


CHICAGO : 

AVILSON     &;     HT.    CLAIR,    F»ubli8her( 
1868.^ 


Katered  accordlog  to  Act  or  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

WILSON    &    ST.    CLAIR, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Northern  District  o{  Ulinoi* 


Bound  by  the 

WBSTKKN  BOOK  MANUFACTURING  CO., 

Chicago,      -      Illinois. 


INTRODUCTION. 


"Art  is  long,  but  Life  is  short,"  is  a  proverb  which,  in  its  Latin  form,  '' Ars  longa, 
vita  brevis,"  has  been  handed  down  through  the  ages  and  passed  from  lip  to  lip  by  savang 
and  students.  But  it  was  reserved  to  the  men  of  the  pi-esent  century  to  exhibit  a  living 
faith  in  the  apotliegm,  by  crowding  into  the  experience  of  a  decade  the  activities  of  a 
patriarchal  term  of  existence.  Man  lived,  and  learned,  and  labored  in  former  days,  and 
improvements  in  his  condition  were  eifected,  but  the  processes  were  slow;  human 
elevation  was  wrought  out  like  the  toilsome  accretions  of  the  coral  reef,  whose  crest  is 
reared  up  from  the  ocean  valley  only  l)y  the  scarcely  sensible  additions  of  untold  centuries, 
by  myriads  of  laborers,  whose  work  was  but  the  construction  of  their  own  tomb.  We 
of  the  present  day  can  compare  with  them  but  by  contrast.  The  progress  of  the  past 
fifty  years  has  been  rather  that  of  the  force  which  upheaves  an  island  in  a  day,  or  builds 
a  palace  in  a  night.  Within  that  short  period  several  peoples  have  been  raised  to  the 
condition  of  freemen,  the  yoke  of  bondage  has  been  stricken  from  the  necks  of  a  race, 
the  mirror  of  science  burnished  up  from  a  few  bright  spots  on  its  surface,  education  has 
become  popularized,  a  continent  settled,  and  steam  made  useful;  the  iron  horse,  unfoaled 
at  the  commencement  of  that  cycle,  is  now  pawing  his  way  tlirough  every  land,  and 
neighing  his  triumph  from  the  tops  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  while  the  electric  spark  has 
flashed  intelligence  into  every  hamlet,  and  wakened  into  life  the  slumbering  activities 
of  a  world. 

Fifty  years!  Less  than  the  life  of  one  man,  the  last  half  century  has  been  more 
heavily  laden  with  human  happiness  than  the  whole  of  that  preceding  period  of  a 
hundred  lunar  cycles,  at  whose  beginning  was  borne  througii  the  air  by  angel  voices 
the  glad  tidings — "Peace  on  earth;  goodwill  to  men!"  And  yet  we  may  lessen  the 
duration  of  even  that  brief  jubilee  by  a  quarter.  Thirty-seven  years  ago,  the  passage 
of  the  Reform  Rill  in  Great  Britain  opened  the  path  along  which  the  masses  of  England 
are  now  marching  towards  liberty  ;  in  the  same  year  (1831)  Cook  County  was  organized 
and  the  first  actual  step  made  towards  opening  up  the  interior  of  the  American  continent 
to  travel  and  discovery,  though  the  passage  of  the  Canal  Bill  three  years  previously 
was  tlic  order  to  hew  out  a  path  in  the  wilderness.  Since  then,  freedom  and 
progress  have  been  the  watchwords  of  civilization.  Six  years  thereafter  the  negroes  in 
Jamaica  were  freed,  and  Chicago  was  made  a  city.  Both  were  but  beginnings,  but  the 
results  have  been  magnificent.     Over  both  hemispheres,  from  the  Texan   plains  to  the 


700743 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

fastnesses  of  Siberia,  the  human  form  and  the  human  mind  have  thrown  off  the  manacles 
which  bound  them,  and  what  was  then  little  more  than  a  narrow  strip  along  the  Atlantic 
shore  has  expanded,  till  now  the  United  States  and  Territories  spread  their  area  over  a 
third  part  of  the  solar  journey,  their  mineral  wealth  enriching,  their  fertile  fields  feeding, 
their  institutions  teaching,  and  their  power  awing  the  world. 

Chicago  is  thus  not  only  a  wonderful  city  in  herself,  but  Apostolic  in  her  character — 
preaching  the  truth  in  the  desert,  and  sowing  the  seed  which  has  now  blossomed  forth 
into  the  fruits  of  a  Garden  of  Eden.  She  it  was  who,  first  planted  in  the  prairie  like 
the  staff  of  St.  Patrick,  has  since  grown  forth  even  more  wonderfully  than  his  wand, 
becoming  not  a  trefoil,  but  a  banyan  tree,  whose  shoots  flourish  from  ocean  to  ocean. 
Chicago  was  the  surveyors'  station  from  which  the  land  beyond  was  prospected,  and  the 
villages  and  cities  subsequently  laid  out  that  now  dot  the  West.  Her  example  has 
stimulated  to  wondrous  enterprise  in  city  building  elsewhere,  and  while  in  her  proud 
position  at  the  head  of  the  great  chain  of  Lakes,  she  is  the  central  point  to  which  all  else 
converges,  as  the  meridian  lines  towards  the  poles,  she  is  still  more  distinguished  as  the 
originator  of  Western  progress — the  maker  of  Northwestern  history. 

Thirty-one  years  since,  Chicago  was  first  called  a  city,  and  Mayor  Ogden  looked 
round  on  the  new-born  corporation,  and  with  true  prophetic  eye  noted  its  future 
magnitude.  That  is  nearly  one  generation  ago ;  a  few  months  more,  and  we  shall  have 
turned  the  first  leaf  in  our  civic  history.  The  early  workers-out  of  the  great  problem 
of  Western  commerce  are  even  now  passing  away  from  among  us,  breaking  through  the 
death  cloud,  seen  in  the  vision  of  Mirza,  into  the  great  ocean  of  eternity.  It  is  a  grateful 
task  to  turn  the  camera  on  the  little  throng  who  are  now  walking  over  the  senior  arches 
in  the  bridge  of  life,  and  photograph  for  preservation  the  prominent  features  in  the  lives 
of  that  little  band  who  have  made  so  much  of  our  history.  AVe  essay  the  work  in  the 
following  pages;  they  contain  life  sketches  of  over  one  hundred  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  Chicago — the  men  to  whose  foresight,  energy,  enterprise,  and  influence,  the  proud 
municii)ality  of  to-day  so  largely  owes  its  greatness. 

These  are  bright  ensamples,  but  the  list  does  not  include  all  whom  we  should  delight 
to  honor.  Some  are  absent  in  Europe,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  earlier  toil,  while  even 
before  we  write  the  cloud  has  closed  over  many  of  the  shining  ones,  and  we  are  reminded 
of  the  old  sun-dial  motto — '■'■  Dum  spectas  fugio" — even  while  we  gaze  they  pass  away. 
Among  the  honored  dead  we  may  not  soon  forget  the  names  of  many  whose  labors  were 
not  less  worthy,  or  lives  more  glorious,  than  those  of  the  present  living.  Among  the 
more  prominent  of  these  we  may  note  the  names  of  Thomas  Dyer,  former  Mayor  of  our 
city ;  Luther  Haven,  Collector  of  the  Port  of  Chicago,  and  for  a  long  time  a  member,  and 
the  President,  of  the  Board  of  Education;  Flavel  Moseley,  whose  benefactions  to  the 
public  schools  will  never  be  forgotten;  Colonel  R.  J.  Hamilton,  of  whom  it  has  been  said 
that  he  held  simultaneously  almost  every  office  in  Cook  County  ;  Judge  Douglas,  the  great 
statesman,  whose  bones  now  repose  near  the  Soldier's  Home ;  George  Manierre,  the 
upright  Judge ;  R.  S.  Blackwell,  the  compiler  of  our  Illinois  Statutes ;  Doctor  Brainard, 
the  founder  of  Rush  Medical  College;  Doctor  Egan,  whose  real  estate  transactions  were 
carried  into  the  practice  of  his  profession  so  largely  that  he  used  to  prescribe  pills  to  be 
taken  "on  canal  time;"  Solomon  Sturges,  the  banker  and  founder  of  the  grain  warehouse 
system;  W.  H.  Brown,  the  scientific  man  and  philanthropist,  who  died  recently  in 
Holland ;  J.  B.  Beaubien,  the  original  native ;  J.  L.  Scripps,  late  Postmaster,  and  for 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

years  one  of  the  editors  of  the  "Press  and  Tribune,"  and  11.  h.  Wilson,  wliose  genius 
and  enterprise  did  so  much  for  the  "Journal."  These,  and  many  more,  will  long  live  in 
memory  as  the  salt  of  the  earth — men  whose  deeds  have  not  followed  them  to  the  grave, 
but  exist  in  their  fruits,  and  cause  their  names  to  be  blessed. 

It  may  be  claimed  for  our  book  that  it  will  change  the  meaning  of  a  word— a  great 
influence  to  exert.  After  this,  let  no  one  use  the  word  "adventurer"  in  the  European 
sense — as  a  disparaging  allusion.  Very  many  of  our  best  men  were  literal  adventurers, 
coming  here  with  nothing  of  worldly  wealth,  setting  foot  in  Chicago  as  the  gold  hunter 
prospects  among  the  mountains,  looking  out  for  thor  best  chance,  and  willing  to  make 
money  in  any  (honest)  way  that  might  offer.  All  honor  to  them !  They  have  rescued  a 
term  from  obloquy  and  re-made  it  honorable,  while  the  usages  of  the  Old  World  have 
debased  this,  as  many  other  good  old  Saxon  terms ;  the  American  sovereign  has  ennobled 
his  language  while  enriching  himself. 

In  the  compilation  of  this  work  we  have  met  with  many  difficulties,  and  some  of 
them  may  have  been  so  much  of  the  insurmountable  order  that  defects  will  be  found  in 
the  book.  AVe  can  only  urge  in  apology  for  these  shortcomings,  that  every  care  has  been 
taken,  no  effort  spared,  to  produce  a  work  which  should  be  a  creditable,  as  well  as  a 
faithful,  exponent  of  the  histories  and  character  of  the  leading  men  of  Chicago.  A  few 
names  have  been  omitted  from  the  list  in  consequence  of  the  absence  or  modesty  of  their 
bearers,  as  the  compilers  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  publish  a  sketch  without  having 
obtained  personal  permission  in  each  instance,  while  in  the  case  of  some,  whose  names 
will  be  found  following,  objection  was  made  to  this  or  that  mode  of  treatment.  Of  course, 
where  so  many  different  tastes  were  to  be  consulted,  and  such  a  mass  of  information 
needed  to  be  gathered  and  put  into  shape,  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  obtain  unvarying 
accuracy.  We  may  be  permitted  to  say,  that  the  services  of  many  of  the  leading  writers 
of  Chicag«>  were  secured  to  put  the  material  into  shape,  and  to  prevent  the  monotony 
of  expression  which  might  otherwise  have  been  met  with. 

In  making  the  selection  of  names,  the  publishers  aimed  to  give  to  the  public  a  view 
of  the  principal  business  interests  of  Chicago,  and  their  growth  from  nothingness  to  their 
present  magnitude,  as  represented  in  the  histories  of  the  leading  men  in  each  branch 
of  enterprise.  No  consideration  of  a  partisan  character  has  been  allowed  to  interfere 
with  entire  impartiality  in  the  choosing,  and  though  many  of  the  parties  mentioned  are 
old  citizens,  the  list  is  far  from  being  confined  to  them.  There  are  many  branches 
of  activity  whose  origin  in  this  city  are  of  comparatively  recent  date,  and  many  of 
our  best  citizens,  and  those  who  have  done  as  much  as  any  other  for  Chicago,  have 
reputations  of  but  a  junior  growth.  Especially  is  this  true  since  the  war  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  called  out  the  best  energies  and  tested  the  patriotism  of  our 
people,  and  hence  the  presence  in  the  book  of  so  many  sketches  of  military  men — those 
who  have  carved  out  the  history  of  the  nation,  and  inscribed  their  own  names  high  on 
the  scroll  of  fame,  with  the  point  of  the  sword  or  bayonet. 

THE  GROWTH  OF  CHICAGO. 

We  do  not  propose,  under  this  head,  to  give  a  history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
wonderful  Garden  City;  that  is  supplied  in  the  lives  of  its  builders.  We  intend  simply  to 
draw  a  few  contrastive  outlines  of  the  past  and  present,  showing  how  the  early  landmarks 
have  been  swept  outwards  by  the  swift-advancing  tide  of  settlement. 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

Forty  years  ago,  there  was  no  Chicago — except  the  river  of  that  name,  marked  on 
the  maps  of  the  seventeenth  centui-y  as  the  "Chicaqua."  Previous  to  1827,  it  was  simply 
a  United  States  fort,  the  old  block-house  standing  on  what  is  now  River  street;  it  was 
demolished  in  1856.  One  small  frame  building — a  relic  of  the  officers'  quarters — is  still 
standing  on  the  west  side  of  Michigan  avenue,  near  Rush  street  bridge,  the  property 
of  Henry  Fuller.  That  was  then  on  tlie  shore  of  the  Lake,  and  a  long  way  from  the  mouth 
of  the  River,  which  there  made  a  bend  to  the  south,  emptying  into  the  Lake  near  the 
present  foot  of  Madison  street.  A  muddy,  narrow  peninsula  separated  them,  having 
been  formed  by  the  deposition  of  earth  and  sand  where  the  two  currents  had  met  for 
ages,  and  the  difference  between  the  earth  and  water  levels  was  so  small  that  a  very 
slight  rain  was  sufficient  to  make  of  the  entire  scene  an  open  sea.  The  Kinzie  trading 
liut  and  the  Beaubien  House,  built  in  1817,  were  about  the  only  un-Indian  structures 
outside  the  fort.  It  was  the  passage  of  the  bill,  in  1827,  providing  for  the  construction 
of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  that  warmed  into  germination  the  seed  whose  vitality 
had  lain  dormant  for  centuries.  Two  years  more,  and  there  were  five  families  living 
outside  the  fort,  and,  in  1831,  when  Cook  County  was  organized,  embracing  what  are  now 
Cook,  Will,  DuPage,  Lake,  Kane  and  Kendall  counties,  there  were  some  sixty  persons  here, 
all  living  on  the  river  banks.  The  next  year  there  was  a  large  accession  to  the  fort,  and 
one  or  two  shanties  were  erected.  In  the  course  of  1833,  the  future  city  began  to  take 
to  itself  a  real  growth,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  frame  houses  being  built,  giving  the 
first  departure  from  the  model  log,  under  the  Canal  pressure.  The  town  of  Chicago  was 
now  a  large  one — it  contained  a  whole  half  section,  being  bounded  by  State,  Halsted, 
Madison  and  Kinzie  streets,  M'hile  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  for  protection 
from  future  encroachments,  had  set  apart  to  its  own  uses  the  Dearborn  Reservation, 
lying  east  of  State  street,  between  Madison  street  and  the  main  channel.  Even  this 
extended  area  was  not  great  enough.  In  November  of  that  year,  the  Indians  having 
been  paid  off,  money  being  plenty,  and  the  Canal  prospects  brilliant,  the  town  govern- 
ment took  on  an  enlarged  jurisdiction,  asserting  its  authority  over  the  one  square  mile 
lying  east  of  Jefferson  street,  between  Ohio  and  Jackson  streets.  Two  months  previous 
to  this  they  had  established  a  free  ferry  over  the  River  at  Dearborn  street,  to  accom- 
modate the  increasing  travel  between  what  are  now  the  North  and  South  Divisions,  and 
twelve  months  thereafter  passed  a  Sunday  law,  to  keep  the  people  in  order.  Two  years 
from  the  establishment  of  the  ferry,  the  town  numbered  over  three  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  it  was  decided  to  build  a  bridge  at  Randolph  street,  the  River  at  that  point  being 
but  forty  feet  wide.  It  was  not  much  of  a  bridge,  as  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
twenty-five  dollars  was  paid  for  the  plan,  and  the  structure,  when  first  put  down,  would 
compare  unfavorably  with  the  lumbering  concern  now  floating  at  Twelfth  street;  but  it 
was  a  great  improvement,  and  the  people  were  thankful. 

Chicago  progressed  with  considerable  rapidity  thenceforward  until  1837,  when  she 
took  on  herself  the  honors  of  a  city  corporation,  with  4,170  inhabitants.  But  then  came 
the  period  of  her  trial.  The  crisis  of  that  year  found  her  but  badly  prepared  to  meet  it. 
Business  became  dull,  money  scarce ;  the  work  on  the  Canal  was  continued  for  some  time, 
but  was  finally  suspended,  and  people  began  to  leave  the  city.  The  migration  was, 
however,  compensated  by  the  arrival  of  others,  who  came  here  out  of  the  storm  which 
raged  elsewhere.  The  next  seven  years  was  a  period  of  difficulty  and  doubt,  during 
which  the  t)otiulation  was  doubled,  and  the  value  of  real  estate  increased  in  about  the 


INTRODUCTION.  VI 1 

same  ratio,  the  business  of  pork-packin{i;  being  the  only  one  that  ma<lc  lioadway.  Three 
years  of  unprecedented  activity  followed,  and  then  another  period  of  financial  tleprcssion, 
but  much  less  disastrous  than  the  former.     It  was  succeeded  by  a  season  of  prosperity. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Chicago  boasted  about  thirty 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  then  first  began  to  realize  her  mission.  Up  to  that  time, 
every  act  had  been  of  a  temporizing  character,  except  the  building  of  the  Dearborn, 
Scammon  and  Kinzie  Schools.  Then  she  began  to  lay  out  the  magnificent  system  of 
railroads  which  now  connects  her  with  the  entire  continent.  Soon  the  necessity  of  lifting 
herself  out  of  the  mud  became  apparent,  and  she  commenced  the  toilsome  work  of 
elevating  her  lowest  locations  fourteen  feet  above  the  original  level;  shortly  thereafter 
she  set  in  motion  the  machinery  which  has  since  made  her  the  great  source  of  supply  for 
pork  and  grain  to  the  famishing  nations  of  Europe.  Internal  improvements  followed 
apace;  her  harbor  was  cleared  out  and  protected,  her  River  deepened  and  straightened, 
docks  and  warehouses  built,  public  schools  erected,  drainage  and  the  supply  of  water  and 
gas  provided  for,  streets  filled  and  paved,  and  bridges  built,  mammoth  hotels  erected,  fine 
residences  and  workshops  put  up;  in  a  word,  everything  done  that  could  be  done  to 
attract  hither  the  riches  of  the  West,  and  the  capital,  brain  and  muscle  of  fhe  East  and 
of  the  Old  World.  How  well  the  work  was  done,  the  present  greatness  of  Chicago  attests 
only  less  eloquently  than  will  the  future.  How  it  was  done,  the  ensuing  biographies 
will  tell. 

The  growth  of  the  city  will  best  be  exhibited  in  the  following  statistics: 

VITAL    STATISTICS. 

The  following  table  contains  the  vital  statistics  of  the  city.  The  second  column 
shows  the  population  each  year,  which  is  an  approximation  only,  when  marked  by  a  *. 
The  third  column  shows  the  number  of  marriages  recorded,  being  five-sixths  of  those  in 
the  whole  county.  The  last  column  gives  the  recorded  mortality — lost  for  years  anterior 
to  1847: 


Year. 


1831 
1832 
1833 
1834 
1R3.5 
1R36 
1837 
1838 
1839 
1840, 
1841, 
1842 
1843, 
1844, 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 


fid* 
&U0 
350* 
l,8tK)* 
3,265 
4,(XMI* 
4,170 
4,(KH»* 
4.-2IKI* 
4,479 
6,5(K)* 
6,590* 
7,580 
8,000* 
12,088 
14,169 
16,859 
20,023 
23,042 


Marriages     Deaths. 


6 

6 

14 

29 

60 

61 

103 

102 

104 

128 

109 

Kil 

128 

178 

2:iO 

287 

373 

489 

512 


520 
560 
,518 


1850., 
1851., 
1852.. 
18.53., 
1854.. 
1855.. 
1856., 
1857.. 
1858.. 
18.59.. 
1860.. 
1861.. 
1862.. 
1863.. 
1864.. 
1865.. 
1866.. 
1867.. 


Population. 

.Marriages 

Death!. 

20,963 

607 

1,335 

34,(XX)« 

617 

844 

38,734 

792 

1.64S 

.59,130 

995 

1,203 

65,872 

1,614 

3,830 

80,023 

1,800 

1,983 

84,113 

2,080 

1,893 

93,(KJ<I* 

2,057 

2,167 

80,00(1* 

1,868 

2,049 

90,IKX»* 

1,6.59 

1,826 

109.260 

1,411 

2,056 

120,fMM)* 

1,4.38 

2,069 

1.38,186 

1,672 

2,575 

1.50,000* 

1,866 

3,522 

169  ,.'153 

2,316 

4,033 

178,492 

2,575 

3,651 

200,418 

3,239 

6,9.32 

21ll,(KHI* 

3,518 

4,601 

The  estimate  of  population  for  the  year  1867  is  based  on  a  recent  canvass  by  the 

Health  Inspectors.     Many  well-informed  people  claim  for  Chicago  a  present  population 
of  250,000. 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION. 


PROPERTY  AND  TAXATION. 

The  following  tables  show  the  municipal  valuations  of  real  estate  in  the  city  for  the 
years  named,  the.  total  valuations  of  real  and  personal  property,  with  the  income  to  the 
city  treasury  from  taxes.  No  personal  estate  was  noted  for  the  first  few  years  of  the 
city's  existence.  The  real  estate  valuations  were  about  one-fourth  of  the  actual  values , 
they  were  raised  to  one-third  in  1866,  and  to  nearly,  or  quite  their  full  worth,  for  1867: 


YEAR. 


1837, 
1840, 
1843. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
1853. 
1855. 
1856. 
1860. 
1862. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 


Real  Estate. 


$236,842 

94,437 

962,221 

2,273,171 

3,664,425 

4,995,446 

4,998,266 

5,181,637 

5,685,965 

13,130,677 

21,037,5(10 

2.i.S92,.".()S 

31,19S,l,'-)5 

31, .087,545 

37,148,023 

44,0t>4,499 

66,495,116 

140,857,040 


Total  Valuation. 


$236,842 

94,437 

1,441,314 

3,065,022 

4,521,656 

5,849,170 

6,300,440 

6,676,084 

7,220,249 

16,841,831 

26,992,893 

31,736,0,84 

37,053,512 

37,139,845 

48,732,782 

64,709,177 

85,953,250 

192,249,644 


$5,905 

4,722 

8,648 

11,078 

15,826 

18,159 

22,052 

30,045 

25,271 

135,662 

206,209 

396,652 

373,315 

564,038 

974,656 

1,294,184 

1,719,064 

2,489,245 


THE  CITY  OF  TO-DAY. 

The  following  is  the  distribution  of  rpal  and  personal  values  in  the  three  divisions, 
with  the  enumerated  populations  in  1866 : 


DIVISION. 

Real  Estate. 

Personal. 

Total. 

Population. 

Smith 

$73,100,720 
44,14S,S2l) 
23,607  ,.500 

$38,748,0,80 
5^392^247 

$111,843,800 
51,400,097 
28,999,747 

58,755 
90,739 
50,924 

West 

North 

Totals 

$140,857,040 

$51,392,604 

$192,249,644 

200,418 

Allowing  for  undervaluations  in  real  estate,  and  omissions  of  personal  property,  the 
wealth  of  the  city  may  be  estimated  in  round  numbers  at  $200,000,000. 

The  municipal  taxation  of  1867,  independent  of  licenses,  fines,  and  the  large 

sums  paid  as  special  assessments  for  improvements,  is $2,489,245 

Taxation  for  State,  County  and  Town '85'/ 631 

Taxation  for  internal  revenue,  about 3  n53'459 

Total  taxation $7,298,335 

Giving  a  taxation  for  all  purposes  of  about  three  and  three-quarters  per  cent,  per 
annum  on  the  selling  cash  value  of  the  property  in  Chicago,  or  $30.00  to  each  of  the 
240,000  residents  of  the  city. 

The  amount  of  business  transacted  during  1867  may  be  roughly  estimated  at: 

Commercial $805,000,000 

Manufacturing 75,000,000 

Total  transactions  of  the  year $380,000,000 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

The  area  of  the  city  is  about  23i  miles,  or  15,050  acres.  The  avernpje  value  of  real 
estate  within  the  limits,  oh  the  Assessor's  valuation,  is  $9,359  per  acre.  The  distribution 
of  population,  if  made  equally,  would  give  10  persons  to  the  acre,  or  three  persons  to 
every  two  residence  lofts  in  the  city. 

In  looking  round  on  the  Chicago  of  to-day.  with  its  myriad  improvements  and  its 
substantial  character,  it  is  difi5cult  to  believe  that  so  little  time  has  elapsed  since  the  old 
block  house  was  "all  and  singular"  of  the  scene  above  water;  that  but  about  thirty 
years  ago  Monroe  street  was  out  of  town,  and  that  much  later  the  present  Tremont  House 
site  was  hunting  ground.  AVho,  of  all  those  living  here  at  that  early  period,  would  have 
believed  that  this  city  could  give  thirty  thousand  men  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion ; 
that  she  would  build  a  tunnel  two  miles  under  Lake  Michigan  :  that  she  would  spend 
$347,731  annually  in  maintaining  twenty-six  public  schools,  employing  316  teachers  to 
instruct  16,393  children,  besides  furnishing  a  surplus  population  of  8,000  juveniles  to  the 
Catholic  schools,  and  a  ragged  brigade,  unnumbered,  to  cry  out  for  more  room?  Few 
indeed  would  have  believed  the  prediction,  that  Chicago  to-day  would  contain  six  hundred 
miles  of  streets,  with  many  acres  of  Nicholson  pavement  laid  over  the  then  level  of  their 
heads;  that  her  citizens  would  require  twelve  millions  of  gallons  of  water  daily,  and  be 
obliged  to  tunnel  under  the  river  to  evade  the  continuous  fleet  of  vessels  which  require 
constant  opening  of  the  bridges ;  or  that  that  river  could  become  so  filthy  that  the  quarter 
of  a  million  inhabitants  would  turn  this  great  canal  into  a  sewer,  at  a  possible  expense 
of  three  or  four  millions  of  dollars.  Still  less  would  they  have  anticipated  that  Cincinnati 
and  St.  Louis,  then  old  established  cities,  would  to-day  be  so  far  distanced  in  the  race 
as  to  content  themselves  with  grumbling  at  the  superior  enterprise  which  placed  them 
hopelessly  in  the  rear.  The  prediction  that  Chicago  would  now  be  the  centre  of  a  system 
of  railroads,  bringing  into  her  warehouses  the  treasures  of  a  settled  country  to  the  west 
of  us,  large  as  the  Eastern  States;  that  she  would  cut  up  and  pack  nearly  a  million  hogs, 
and  receive  sixty  millions  of  bushels  of  grain  yearly,  might  have  flattered  their  vanity, 
but  would  have  been  set  down  as  "buncombe"  equal  to  that  of  the  man  who  was  called 
insane  because  he  believed  that  he  would  live  to  see  Lake  street  property  worth  one 
thousand  dollars  a  foot.     Where  is  it  now  ? 

We  forbear  to  speak  of  the  future,  preferring  that  the  million  of  people  who  will  ere 
long  claim  Chicago  as  their  home,  should  tell  of  their  own  greatness.  We  will  content 
ourselves  with  commending  to  them  our  volume,  that  they,  as  the  readers  of  the  present 
day,  may  learn  to  whom  they  are  so  largely  indebted  for  the  proud  position  held  by 
Chicago  among  the  cities  of  the  western  continent. 

The  portraits  for  the  work  have  been  prepared  by  Mr.  J.  Carbutt,  the  well  known 
photographic  artist.  No.  131  Lake  street.  We  need  not  say  more  than  tliat  they  are  all 
in  his  usual  excellent  style,  a  credit  alike  to  Chicago  art,  to  the  book,  and  to  the  parties 
whose  facial  lineaments  are  here  presented. 


WILLIAM  B.  OGDEN. 


William  B.  Ogden  is  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Walton,  on  the  15th  of  June^  1805,  He  is  of 
the  Eastern  New  Jersey  Ogden  family. 

His  grandfather  was  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  His  father,  Abraham 
Ogden,  when  eighteen  years  old,  left  Morristown,  N.  J.,  soon  after  the 
close  of  that  war,  intending  to  settle  in  the  new  city  of  Washington,  the 
future  Capital  of  the  United  States.  He  had  proceeded  on  his  journey  as 
far  as  Philadelphia,  when  he  met  a  brother  or  relative  of  his  friend,  the 
late  Governor  Mahlon  Dickerson,  of  Ncav  Jersey,  who  gave  him  such  a 
glowing  account  of  the  Upper  Delaware  country,  and  of  the  immense 
forests  of  pine  timber  upon  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  promising  great 
prospective  wealth  from  its  accessibility  to  the  Philadelphia  market,  that 
he  was  induced  to  accompany  Mr.  Dickerson  to  that,  then,  wilderness 
country,  where  he  finally  settled,  and  passed  a  life  of  active  usefulness, 
engaged  in  such  employments  as  were  best  suited  to  develop  and  build  up 
the  home  of  his  adoption.  He  was  regarded  as  a  man  of  sound  judgment 
and  good  business  tact.  He  was  social  and  domestic,  fond  of  reading,  yet 
very  hospitable  in  his  disposition.  His  advice  was  sought  and  valued, 
especially  by  those  younger  than  himself.  His  active  usefulness  was 
much  impaired  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis  in  1820.     He  died  in  1825. 

The  mother  of  William  B.  Ogden  was  a  daughter  of  an  officer  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  James  Weed,  of  New  Canaan,  Fairfield  County, 
Connecticut.  Mr.  Weed  seems  to  have  been  very  patriotic,  or  somewhat 
military  in  his  character,  for  we  find  him,  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen 
years,  volunteering  in  the  "  French  War." 

At  the  termination  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  like  most  of  his 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES 

brother  officers,  he  was  out  of  cash  and  out  of  business.  Several  of  these 
officers,  inchidino;  ]Mr.  Weed,  determined  to  colonize  and  settle  upon  and 
around  a  "  patent "  of  land  which  one  of  their  number  held  upon  the 
Delaware  River.  This  land  was  a  primitive  forest,  west  of  the  Catskill 
]Mountains,  eiglity  miles  (those  were  not  railroad  days)  beyond  the  Hudson, 
and  sixty  miles  beyond  the,  then,  AVestern  frontier  or  any  carriage  road. 
It  was  a  great  undertaking;  yet  these  brave  men  had  the  courage  to  seek  an 
independent  home  with  their  families  in  the  wilderness.  In  1790-2,  they 
took  their  families,  upon  pack-horses,  to  their  forest  homes ;  established 
a  settlement  in  that  "  Sequestered  Section  "  of  the  State,  as  it  was  after- 
wards called  by  Governor  Clinton,  where,  though  remarkable  for  neither 
numbers  nor  wealth,  jjatriotism  found  a  home,  amid  dignified  courtesy 
and  genuine  hospitality.  The  society  formed  and  developed  through  the 
influence  of  these  pioneers  Avas  distinguished  through  all  the  surrounding 
country  no  less  for  its  general  intelligence  and  intellectual  cultivation, 
than  for  its  moral  and  religious  character.  It  w^as  here  that  the  parents  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  were  married,  and  the  earlier  years  of  the  latter 
were  passed.  Allusion  has  not  been  made  to  the  ancestors  of  ]Mr.  Ogden 
from  any  feeling  that  worthy  parentage  can  confer  honor  without  regard 
to  the  character  of  the  offspring.  The  writer  holds  that  sucli  ancestry 
only  add  to  the  dishonor  of  him  who  is  not  true  to  liis  inherited  blood. 
But  when  worthy  parentage  is  blessed  and  honored  by  corresponding 
qualities  in  the  child,  any  biography  of  the  latter  is  deficient,  which  does 
not  acknowledge  the  indebtedness  of  its  subject  to  its  parent  stock. 

Mr.  Ogden,  when  a  lad,  was  large  for  his  years.  When  not  more 
than  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  he  was  very  fond  of  athletic  exercise,  and 
the  sports  of  robust  boyhood.  It  was  his  delight  to  hunt,  to  swim, 
to  skate,  to  wrestle  and  to  ride.  These  were  the  sports  suited  to  his 
"Sequestered"  home;  and  if  they  trespassed  too  much  upon  his  time,  it 
was  from  no  indisposition  to  study,  or  want  of  fondness  for  books.  He 
must  have  been  very  fond  of  these  sports  in  his  early  youth,  for  he  recol- 
lects that  his  father  was  obliged  to  limit  his  hunting;  and  fishino-  excursions 
to  two  days  in  the  week.  As  he  grew  older,  the  advice  of  his  father 
awakened  in  him  a  consciousness  of  the  necessity  of  greater  application  to 
books,  and  of  the  duty  of  preparing  himself  for  the  serious  business  of 
life.     His  father's  counsels  w^ere  not  unheeded. 

Permitted  by  his  indulgent  father  to  choose  his  future  occupation,  he 
determined  to   acquire   a   liberal   education,  and   devote  himself  to  the 


WILLIAM   B.   OGDEN.  13 

practice  of  law.  No  sooner  had  lie  made  this  determination,  than,  with  the 
decision  of  character  and  earnestness  which  have  marked  all  his  subse- 
quent life,  he  set  to  work  to  fit  himself  for  his  chosen  profession.  He  had 
but  little  more  tlian  commenced  his  academic  course,  when  the  sudden 
prostration  of  his  father's  health  rc(|uired  him,  though  only  sixteen  years 
of  age,  to  return  home,  to  take  his  father's  place  in  the  management  of 
the  latter's  business,  and  the  care  of  the  family.  It  was  with  no  little 
regret  that  the  young  Ogden  bade  adieu  to  the  academic  halls,  yet  he 
could  not  hesitate  between  inclination  and  duty. 

The  management  of  his  father's  business  exacted  great  activity  and 
energy  from  its  youthful  conductor.  It  took  him  much  over  the  country, 
and  frequently  to  the  large  cities,  and  in  it  he  acquired  that  taste  and 
inclination  for  diversified  business  pursuits  which  have  rendered  his 
subsequent  life  one  of  untiring  and  diversified  activity. 

Although  his  father's  business  required  great  attention,  it  did  not 
absorb  all  his  strength.  He  found  oj^portunity  to  cultivate  his  mind  by 
reading;  and,  being  a  ready  observer,  and  his  mind  of  a  strong  practical 
turn,  he  did  not  fail  to  j^rofit  by  every  tour  he  made.  Travel  proved  to 
him,  as  it  always  does  to  persons  of  thought  and  observation,  an  efficient 
educator.  It  enlarged  his  views,  expanded  his  thoughts,  and  increased  his 
powers.  Yet,  at  this  time,  he  had  not  seen  very  much  of  the  world.  He 
was  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  was  induced  to  engage  as  a 
partner  in  a  mercantile  firm,  and  enlarge  his  operations.  These  Ayere 
moderately  successful,  but  did  not  satisfy  his  ambition.  After  spending  a 
few  years  more  in  his  native  county,  his  unwearied  exertions  being 
rewarded  by  only  moderate  gains,  he  determined,  in  1835,  to  turn  his 
attention  westward.  He  arrived  at  Chicago  in  June,  1835,  having  then 
recently  united  with  friends  in  the  purchase  of  real  estate  in  this  city. 
He  and  they  foresaw  that  Chicago  was  to  be  a  good  town,  and  they 
purchased  largely,  including  AVolcott's  Addition,  and  nearly  the  half  of 
Kinzic's  xlddition,  and  the  block  of  land  upon  which  the  freight-houses 
of  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union  Railroad  now  stand. 

Before  leaving  his  native  Stiite,  at  eighteen,  the  age  at  which  military 
duty  was  at  that  time  required  of  young  men  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
Mr.  Ogden  entered  upon  that  service.  He  was  elected  a  commissioned 
officer,  the  first  day  of  doing  duty;  and  on  the  second  was  appointed  Aid 
to  his  esteemed  friend,  Brigadier-General  Frederic  P.  Foote,  a  gallant  and 
polished  gentleman,  long  since  deceased.     The  late  Hon.  Selali  1\.  llobbie, 


14  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  distinguished  Assistant  Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States,  for 
so  many  years,  and  from  boyhood  the  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Ogden, 
was  a  member  of  General  Foote's  Staff,  at  the  same  time,  as  Brigade 
Inspector,  Avith  the  rank  of  Major.  Mr.  Ogden  succeeded  his  friend, 
Major  Hobble,  in  the  office  of  Brigade  Inspector,  and  did  its  duties  for 
several  years. 

In  General  Jackson's  time,  Mr.  Ogden  was  made  Postmaster  of  his 
village  (Walton,)  and  so  remained  until  after  his  removal  to  Chicago. 

The  year  before  coming  to  Chicago  (1834,)  INIr.  Ogden  was  elected  to 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  especially  to  advocate  the 
construction  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad,  and  to  obtain  the  aid 
of  the  State  for  that  great  work,  which  then  commanded  his  hearty  exer- 
tions, and  in  which  he  has  ever  since  felt  a  deep  interest.  He  spent  the 
winter  of  1834-5  in  the  Assembly  at  Albany,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
following  year  that  aid  was  granted  by  the  State. 

Chicago  was  selected  as  his  place  of  residence,  because  of  its  prominent 
position  at  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  or  rather,  because  of  its  being  tlie 
Western  terminus  of  Lake  navigation. 

His  attention  had  been  more  particularly  drawn  to  it  by  his  brother-in- 
law,  Charles  Butler,  and  his  friend,  Arthur  Bronson,  of  New  York,  both 
of  whom  had  visited  Chicago,  in  1833,  and  made  purchases  here. 

At  first  JNlr.  Ogden's  principal  business  in  Chicago  was  the  manage- 
ment of  the  real  estate  which  he  and  his  friends  had  purchased;  but 
gradually,  and  almost  accidentally  in  the  beginning,  he  established  a  Land 
and  Trust  Afrencv  in  Chicag-o,  which  he  carried  on  in  his  own  name  from 
1836  to  1843,  when  it  had  so  increased  that  he  associated  with  himself 
the  late  William  E.  Jones.  Since  then  the  business  has  been  carried  on 
successively  by  Ogden,  Jones  &  Co.,  and  Ogden,  Fleetwood  &  Co.,  in 
which  last  name  it  is  still  managed.  The  business  has  become  so  large 
that  it  may  be  called  one  of  the  institutions  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Ogden  was  very  successful  in  his  operations  in  1835-6;  but  he 
became  embarrassed  in  1837-8,  by  assuming  liabilities  for  friends,  several 
of  whom  he  endeavored  to  aid,  with  but  partial  success.  He  struggled 
on  with  these  embarrassments  for  several  years.  Finally,  in  1842—3,  Mr. 
Ogden  escaped  from  the  last  of  them ;  and,  since  then,  his  career  of 
pecuniary  success  has  been  unclouded.  They  were  gloomy  days  for 
Chicago  when  the  old  internal  improvement  system  went  by  the  board, 
and  the  Canal  drew  its  slow  length  along,  and  operations  upon  it  were 


WILLIAM   B.   OGDEN.  16 

finally  suspended,  leaving  the  State  comparatively  nothing  to  show  for 
the  millions  squandered  in  "  internal  improvements." 

His  operations  in  real  estate  have  been  immense.  He  has  sold  real 
estate  for  himself  and  others,  to  an  amount  exceeding  ten  millions  of 
dollars,  requiring  many  thousand  deeds  and  contracts  which  have  been 
signed  by  him.  The  fact  that  the  sales  of  his  house  have,  for  some  years 
past,  equalled  nearly  one  million  of  dollars  per  annum,  will  give  some 
idea  of  the  extent  of  its  business.  He  has  literally  made  the  rough 
places  smooth,  and  the  crooked  ways  straight,  in  Chicago.  More  than  one 
hundred  miles  of  streets,  and  hundreds  of  bridges  at  street  corners,  besides 
several  other  bridges,  including  two  over  the  Chicago  river,  have  been 
made  by  him,  at  the  private  expense  of  himself  and  clients,  and  at  a  cost 
of  probably  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars, 

Mr.  Ogden's  mind  is  of  a  very  practical  character.  The  first  floating 
swing-bridge  over  the  Chicago  River  w'as  built  by  him,  for  the  city, 
on  Clark  street,  (before  he  ever  saw  one  elsewhere),  and  answered  well  its 
designed  purpose.  He  was  early  engaged  in  introducing  into  extensive 
use  in  the  West,  McCormick's  reaping  and  mowing  machines,  and  build- 
ing up  the  first  large  factory  for  their  manufacture — that  now  owned  by 
the  MeCormieks.  In  this  manufactory,  during  INIr.  Ogden's  connection 
M'ith  it,  and  at  his  suggestion,  was  built  the  first  reaper  sent  to  England, 
and  which,  at  the  great  Exhibition  of  1851,  in  London,  did  so  much  for 
the  credit  of  American  manufactures  there. 

He  was  a  contractor  upon  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  and  his 
efforts  to  prevent  its  suspension,  and  to  resuscitate  and  complete  it,  were 
untiring. 

There  is  no  brighter  page  in  INIr.  Ogden's  history  than  that  which 
records  his  devotion  to  the  preservation  of  the  public  credit.  The  first 
time  that  we  recollect  to  have  heard  him  address  a  public  meeting  was  in 
the  autumn  of  1837,  while  he  held  the  office  of  Mayor.  Some  frightened 
debtors,  assisted  by  a  few  demagogues,  had  called  a  meeting  to  take 
measures  to  have  the  courts  suspended,  or  some  way  devised  by  which  the 
compulsory  fulfilment  of  their  engagements  might  be  deferred  beyond  that 
period,  so  tedious  to  creditors,  known  as  the  "law's  delay."  They  sought 
by  legislative  action,  or  "  relief  laws,"  to  virtually  suspend,  for  a  season, 
the  collection  of  debts.  An  inflammatory  and  ad  captandum  speech  had 
been  made.  The  meeting,  which  was  composed  chiefly  of  debtors,  seemed 
quite  excited,  and  many  were  rendered  almost  desperate  by  the  recital  by 


16  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

designing  men,  of  their  sufferings  and  pecuniary  danger.  During  the 
excitement,  the  jNIayor  was  called  for.  He  stepped  forward,  and  exhorted 
his  fellow  citizens  not  to  commit  the  folly  of  proclaiming  their  own 
dishonor.  He  besought  those  of  them  who  were  embarrassed,  to  bear  up 
against  adverse  circumstances,  with  the  courage  of  men,  remembering  that 
no  misfortune  was  so  great  as  one's  own  personal  dishonor.  That  it  were 
better  for  them  to  conceal  their  misfortunes,  than  to  proclaim  them; 
reminding  them  that  many  a  fortress  had  saved  itself  by  the  courage  of 
its  inmates,  and  their  determination  to  conceal  its  weakened  condition, 
when,  if  its  real  state  had  been  made  known,  its  destruction  would  have 
been  inevitable  and  immediate.  "Above  all  things,"  said  he,  "do  not 
tarnish  the  honor  of  our  infant  city." 

To  the  credit  of  Chicago,  be  it  said,  this  firet  attemjjt  at  "repudiating 
relief"  met,  from  a  majority  of  that  meeting,  and  from  our  citizens, 
a  rebuff  no  less  pointed  than  deserved;  and  those  who  attempted  it 
merited  contempt. 

Since  then  has  our  State  needed  all  the  exertions  of  its  truest  and 
most  faithful  citizens  to  repel  the  insidious  aj^proachcs  of  the  demon 
of  repudiation.  When  Mississippi  repudiated,  and  Illinois  could  not 
pay,  and  with  many  sister  States  had  failed  to  meet  her  interest,  there 
were  not  wanting  political  Catalines  to  raise  the  standard  of  repudiation 
in  Illinois.  The  State  seemed  almost  hopelessly  in  debt;  and  the 
money  for  this  immense  indebtedness,  except  so  mucli  as  had  been 
expended  upon  the  Canal,  had  been  wasted,  chiefly  in  the  partial  con- 
struction of  disconnected  pieces  of  railroads,  which  were  of  no  value  to 
the  State  or  people. 

The  State  was  bankrupt,  and  private  insolvency  was  rather  the  rule 
than  the  exception.  Many  were  discouraged  by  their  misfortunes,  some  of 
the  hopeless  were  leaving  the  State  on  account  of  its  embarrassments,  and 
immigration  was  repelled  by  fear  of  enormous  taxation.  Then  it  was  that 
the  wily  demagogue  sought  to  beguile  the  simple  and  unsuspecting,  and  to 
preach  the  doctrine  of  repudiation  as  a  right,  because  "no  value  had  been 
received"  for  the  money  which  our  public  creditors  had  loaned  us,  and  on 
account  of  the  hopelessness  and  utter  impossibility  of  our  ever  paying  our 
indebtedness.  INIr.  Ogden  then,  though  his  party  in  its  State  Convention 
refused  to  adopt  a  resolution  which  was  submitted,  "  i'ei)udiating  repudia- 
tion," in  common  with  the  great  mass  of  his  Northern  fellow  citizens,  did 
not  hesitate  to  proclaim  the  inviolable  nature  of  our  public  faith,  and  the 


WILLIAM    B.   Of4DEN.  17 

necessity  of  doing  our  utmost  to  meet  our  obligations,  and  redeem  the 
credit  of  our  noble  State. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Ogden,  tliough  not  much  of  a  partisan,  has  always 
been  a  democrat  of  tlie  Madisonian  school.  He  has  not  hesitated  to 
oppose  the  nominations  of  his  party,  Avlien,  in  his  opinion,  tlie  public 
interest  required  it.  He  has  often  been  in  the  City  Council,  and  frecpiently 
solicited  to  be  a  candidate  for  official  positions.  He  was  nominated  in 
1840,  by  the  Canal  party,  for  the  Legislature,  and  in  1852,  by  the  Free 
Democracy  for  Congress.  This  nomination  he  declined.  In  the  recent 
struggle,  he  Avas  found  with  freedom's  hosts,  in  support  of  the  nominees 
of  the  Republican  party,  believing,  in  common  with  the  great  mass  of  the 
North,  that  the  encroachments  of  slavery  upon  territory  dedicated  to 
freedom  by  the  plighted  faith  of  the  nation,  must  be  resisted;  and  that 
the  "principles  promulgated  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
embodied  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  are  essential  to  the  preservation  of 
our  repul)lican  institutions." 

Mr.  Ogden  is  a  man  of  great  public  spirit,  and  in  enterprise  unsur- 
passed. To  recapitulate  the  public  undertakings  which  have  commanded 
his  attention,  and  received  his  countenance  and  support,  would  be  to 
catalogue  most  of  those  in  this  section  of  the  Northwest.  He  has  been  a 
leading  man — President  or  Director,  or  a  large  stockholder — in  so  many 
public  bodies  or  corporations,  that  we  shall  not  undertake  to  make  a  list 
of  them.  Among  the  prominent  places  he  has  occuj)ied,  we  recollect  the 
following: 

In  1837,  at  tlie  first  election  under  the  city  charter,  he  was  chosen 
Mayor.  He  was  the  first  and  only  President  of  Rush  Medical  College. 
He  was  President  of  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union  Railroad  Company, 
from  its  resuscitation  on  its  present  basis,  until  its  construction,  in  part, 
and  earnings  had  raised  its  stock  to  a  premium,  when  he  resigned.  He 
was  President  of  the  National  Pacific  Railroad  Convention  of  1850,  held 
in  Philadelphia;  of  the  Illinois  and  AVisconsin  Railroad  Company;  of  the 
Buffalo  and  Mississippi  Railroad  Company,  in  Indiana,  until  merged  in 
the  Michigan  Central;  of  the  Chicago  Branch  of  the  State  Bank  of 
Illinois,  at  Chicago;  and  is  President  of  the  Board  of  Sewerage  Commis- 
sioners for  the  City  of  Chicago. 

It  was  Mr.  Ogden  wlio  first  started  the  resuscitation  and  building 
of  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union  Railroad.  He  negotiated  for  the 
purchase  of  the  charter  and  assets  of  the  Company,  of  the  proprietors  in 


18  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES, 

New  York,  in  1847,  and  was  the  first  President  of  the  Company.  He 
was  indefiitigable  in  his  exertions  to  commend  the  enterprise  to  public 
attention,  and  secure  its  commencement  and  energetic  construction.  But 
for  his  exertions,  and  those  of  J.  Y.  Scammon,  it  could  not  have  started 
when  it  did.  It  was  their  exertions,  in  the  country  and  in  Chicago,  that 
obtained  the  necessary  subscriptions  to  justify  the  commencement  of  the 
undertaking.     Without  them,  it  would  not  have  moved  for  years. 

In  1854-5,  Mr.  Ogden  visited  Europe,  and  was  away  from  Chicago 
for  about  a  year  and  a  half.  He  was  an  accurate  observer,  while  abroad, 
of  men  and  things.  The  institutions  and  great  public  works  of  Europe 
did  not  escape  his  attention,  and  some  of  them  were  carefully  examined 
by  him.  It  was  the  canals  of  Holland,  and  especially  the  great  ship 
canal  at  Amsterdam,  that  first  suggested  to  him  the  practicability,  as  well 
as  importance  and  necessity  of  a  channel  for  the  free  flow  of  the  waters 
of  Lake  Michigan,  through  the  Chicago  and  Des  Plaines  Rivers,  into  the 
Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  in  aid  of  navigation  in  those  rivers;  and  at 
the  same  time  furnishing  free,  direct  and  unbroken  steamboat  navigation 
between  the  Mississippi  River  and  all  its  tributaries  and  Chicago.  His 
letters  from  Europe  were  published  in  the  "Chicago  Democratic  Press"  at 
the  time,  and  have  attracted  attention  to  this  great  subject,  which  has 
already  many  strong  friends.  While  in  Europe,  Mr.  Ogden  gave 
attention,  also,  to  works  of  art,  and  purchased  quite  a  number  of  pictures 
and  articles  of  virtu,  many  of  them  tlie  productions  of  American  artists 
of  merit  abroad,  and  which  not  only  adorn  his  mansion,  but  do  credit 
to  their  authors,  and  are  valuable  contributions  for  the  improvement 
and  gratification  of  the  public  taste  in  this  new  world. 

Mr.  Ogden  is  a  man  of  commanding  person,  and  most  agreeable 
manners — of  extensive  general  information,  and  cultivated  taste.  We 
have  never  known  a  more  amiable  or  gentlemanly  man  in  intercourse 
with  others.  His  strong  practical  sense  and  great  presence  of  mind  make 
him  at  home  almost  everywhere.  He  is  rarely  at  a  loss.  Although  his 
education  has  not  been  sucli  as  to  make  him  a  belles  lettres  scholar,  or  an 
accomplished  orator,  he  writes  well,  and  is  always  listened  to  with 
attention  when  he  addresses  an  audience;  and  few,  if  any  men,  exert 
more  influence  in  a  public  body,  upon  any  practical  subject,  than  he  does. 
As  a  traveling  companion,  we  have  never  seen  his  equal.  His 
prudence  and  foresight,  and  his  love  of  doing  the  agreeable  to  others, 
relieve  his  compagnons  de  voyage  of  all  care.     It  is  natural  for  him  to 


WFLTJAM    B.   OGDKN',  "     19 

love  t(i  aid  others.  It  affords  him  great  satisfaction  to  be  of  service  to  his 
friends.  Amidst  tlie  pressure  of  his  enormous  business,  he  finds  time  to 
relieve  the  distressed  and  to  aid  the  deserving-j  and  many  a  family  in 
Chicago,  who  are  now  basking  in  prosperity,  owe  their  success  to  his  kind 
assistance;  many  a  poor  widow  and  orphan  have  been  preserved  from 
want  by  his  care  and  foresight. 

Mr.  Ogden  is  now  immensely  rich;  yet  he  retains  the  same  fondness 
for  enterprise,  the  same  love  for  building  roads,  and  developing  the 
country,  which  have  characterized  his  previous  life.  He  is  now  President 
of  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul  and  Fond  du  Lac  Railroad  Company,  and  of  the 
AVisconsin  and  Superior  Land  Grant  Railroad  Company;  and,  under  his 
auspices,  Chicago  will,  ere  long,  in  all  probability,  be  brought  into  direct 
communication  with  Lake  Superior;  and  should  he  live  long  enough,  we 
should  not  be  surprised  to  see  him  building  the  Northwestern  Railroad  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Mr.  Ogden  has  never  married.  In  1837,  he  built  a  delightful 
residence,  in  the  centre  of  a  beautiful  lot,  thickly  covered  with  fine  native 
growth  forest  trees,  and  surrounded  by  four  streets,  in  that  part  of  the 
city  called  North  Chicago;  and  there,  when  not  absent  from  home,  he 
indulges  in  that  hospitality  which  is,  at  the  same  time,  so  cheering  to  his 
friends  and  so  agreeable  to  himself. 

The  preceding  sketch  of  the  life  of  our  eminent  townsman  was  written 
and  published  in  1857.  In  continuing  it  to  the  present  date,  we  but 
recount  the  history  of  Chicago  and  the  Northwest  for  the  last  ten  years. 

Impelled  by  his  love  of  public  improvement,  and  desire  to  develop 
the  great  West,  Mr.  Ogden,  during  the  year  1857,  was  pusliing  forward 
with  all  his  energy  the  construction  of  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul  and 
Fond  du  Lac  Railroad,  two  sections  of  which,  from  Chicago  to  Janesville, 
and  twenty-eight  miles  from  Fond  du  Lac  south,  were  completed  and 
in  operation  when  the  memorable  financial  crisis  of  that  year  swept 
over  this  country  and  the  commercial  world,  upsetting  many  of  the 
strongest  commercial  houses,  and  producing  general  embarrassment  in 
all  the  business  enterprises  of  the  laud.  The  Fond  du  Lac  Railroad 
was  carrying  a  large  floating  debt,  pending  a  sale  of  its  mortgage  bonds, 
and  the  negotiations  abroad  suddenly  failing,  in  the  crash  tlie  paper  of  the 
Company  went  to  protest.  Upon  this  paper  Mr.  Ogden  was  endorser  to 
the  extent  of  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars,  and  was  consequently 


20  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

called  upon  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  this  large  sum.  With  his  usual 
energy  he  set  about  the  herculean  task.  These  -were  days  of  trial, 
requiring  fortitude  and  good  judgment.  Aided  by  the  advice  and  confi- 
dence of  such  friends  as  AVilliam  A.  Booth,  President  of  the  American 
Exchange  Bank,  Caleb  O.  Halsted,  President  of  the  Manhattan  Company, 
and  his  Counsellor,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of  New  York,  he  made  an  exhibit 
of  his  affairs,  and  was  allowed  by  the  creditors  of  the  road  to  continue  in 
its  control,  and  arrange  and  liquidate  its  paper,  according  to  his  own 
judgment;  and  through  the  assets  of  the  Company,  and  the  free  use  of  a 
large  portion  of  his  private  estate,  he  succeeded  ere  long  in  retiring  all 
the  jiaper  of  the  Company  upon  which  he  was  endorser.  It  is  due  to  our 
common  humanity  that  we  should  here  acknowledge  several  acts  of  confi- 
dence and  good  will,  so  noble  as  to  deserve  especial  mention. 

The  house  of  which  Mr.  Ogden  was  the  head  at  Chicago,  had  for 
many  years  been  the  agents  of  Samuel  Russell,  of  Middletown,  Con- 
necticut, a  Avealthy  retired  merchant,  the  founder  of  the  well-known  house 
of  Russell  &  Co.,  of  Canton,  India.  Immediately  upon  learning  that  his 
friend  was  embarrassed,  Mr.  Russell  wrote  to  Mr.  Ogden's  partner  at 
Chicago,  to  place  his  entire  estate  in  their  hands,  amounting  to  near  a 
half  million  of  dollars,  at  Mr.  Ogden's  disposal.  Robert  Eaton,  of 
Swansea,  in  Wales,  an  English  gentleman  of  wealth  and  cultivation,  at 
once  sent  to  Mr.  Ogden  eighty  thousand  dollars  to  use  in  his  discretion. 
Our  well-known  citizen,  Matthew  Laflin,  wrote  from  Saratoga,  where 
he  was  sojourning,  and  tendered,  from  himself  and  friends,  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars;  and  Colonel  E.  D.  Taylor,  long  an  enterprising  citizen 
of  Chicago,  repeatedly  tendered  like  substantial  aid.  Although  this 
princely  liberality  was  not  accepted,  we  can  readily  understand  how 
gratifying  it  must  have  been  to  Mr.  Ogden,  and  how  such  exhibitions 
of  confidence  and  esteem  at  such  a  time  cheered  and  encourao-ed  him 
in  his  trying  and  difficult  position.  The  resjionsibility  which  he  had 
assumed  for  the  road  was  not  prompted,  mainly,  by  the  jjrospect  of  private 
gain.  Others  had  a  larger  jiecuniarj^  interest  in  the  road  than  he,  and 
others  in  Chicago  had  as  large  an  indirect  interest  as  he  in  the  extension 
of  the  road,  and  the  development  of  the  country,  and  of  the  city  of  his 
adoption.  Undaunted  by  the  reverse  which  had  overtaken  him,  and  con- 
fidently forecasting  the  future  in  a  large  mould,  he  did  not  hesitate,  before 
he  had  retired  all  the  paper  of  the  road  upon  which  he  was  endorser,  to 
push  on  the  project  towards  completion.     In  the  summer  of  1859,  he 


MTLLIAM    B.   OGDEX.  21 

undertook  the  construction  of  sixty  miles  of  the  road  from  Jancsville 
northward,  to  connect  tlie  two  sections  of  the  line  already  in  operation, 
and  this  was  accomplished  in  the,  then,  unprecedented  time  of  fifty-eight 
working  days.  The  failure  of  the  road,  in  1857,  involved  its  sale  and 
re-organization,  after  which  it  took  the  name  of  the  Chicago  and  North- 
western Railway,  and,  under  that  title,  Mr.  Ogden  and  his  friends 
continued  to  push  on  the  line  towards  Lake  Superior,  competing  for  the 
trade  of  the  Northwest.  The  old  Galena  road  was  seeking  for  the 
same  trade,  and  each  company  was  projecting  competing  lines  through 
territory  already  supplied  with  facilities  for  transportation.  Mr.  Ogden 
thought  this  policy  injurious  to  both  interests,  and  that  neither  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  Chicago,  nor  the  great  region  lying  beyond  the  points 
then  reached  by  the  roads,  were  being  developed  and  benefitted  in  a  degree 
at  all  commensurate  wdth  the  capital  likely  to  be  expended.  He  thought 
that  by  a  concentration  of  interests,  mutually  beneficial  to  the  stock- 
holders, it  would  be  possible  for  Chicago,  through  these  roads,  and  to 
tlieir  profit,  to  speedily  put  herself  in  communication,  by  rail,  with  Lake 
Superior  to  the  North,  St.  Paul  and  Minnesota  to  the  Northwest,  and  the 
ISlissouri  River,  Avith  the  boundless  region  and  resources  to  the  West. 
Moved  l)y  these  considerations,  in  the  winter  of  1864,  Mr.  Ogden  pro- 
jected the  purchase  of  the  Galena  Railroad ;  and  this  being  accomplished 
by  himself  and  a  few  friends,  the  two  rival  interests  were  consolidated  at 
the  next  annual  election.  The  Directors  of  the  Galena  Company  having, 
some  years  previously,  abandoned  to  the  Illinois  Central  their  line  from 
Freeport  to  Galena,  the  word  "  Galena"  was  dropped  at  the  consolidation 
as  a  mL-nomer,  and  thenceforward  that  line  took  the  name  of  its  younger 
and  more  enterprising  rival.  The  Vv'isdom  of  this  movement  has  been 
more  than  vindicated  by  results  already  accomplished. 

At  an  early  day  Mr.  Ogden  was  interested  in  securing  railroad  connec- 
tions for  our  city  with  the  East — at  first  by  the  Michigan  Central,  and 
subsequently  by  the  Michigan  Southern  road.  On  the  organization  of  the 
Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Company,  in  1853,  he  became  a  Director,  and 
has,  we  believe,  always  continued  his  active  interest  in  that  enterprise. 
The  line  to  Pittsburgh  then  embraced  three  distinct  companies,  all  weak 
and  all  engaged,  with  limited  means  and  credit,  in  the  work  of  construc- 
tion. He  regarded  a  grand  trunk  line,  under  one  management,  from 
Chicago  to  Pittsburgh,  as  essential  to  a  valuable  business  (•(.nnection  with 
the  latter  city,  as  well  as  with  Philadelphia.    The  roads  were  subsequently 


22  BIOGRAPIIIOAT.    SKETCHED. 

united,  but,  wanting  the  strength  of  a  completed  line,  the  enterprise  was 
forced  to  succumb  to  the  pressure  of  the  times,  and  in  1859  steps  were 
taken  for  the  ai)pointment  of  Receivers — and  a  Sequestrator  was  appointed 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  a  Receiver  in  Ohio.  A  want  of  harmony  in  the 
several  States  seemed  likely  to  end  in  ruinous  litigation,  and  in  defeating 
the  project,  or  at  least  suspending  it  indefinitely.  This  would  have  been 
a  great  misfortune  to  Chicago;  would  have  involved  large  losses  on  the 
line,  not  to  individuals  only,  but  to  counties  which  had  subscribed  largely 
to  the  stock,  and  the  danger  was  so  imminent  that  a  general  meeting  of 
stock  and  bondholders,  as  well  as  creditors,  was  convened  at  Pittsburgh. 
We  have  been  informed  by  gentlemen  who  were  present  on  that  occasion, 
that  tlie  sagacity  and  discretion  of  Mr.  Ogdcn  were  never  more  strikingly 
illustrated  than  on  this  occasion.  He  had  such  a  clear  perception  of 
what  was  certain  to  follow  division  and  strife  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the 
favorable  results  sure  to  be  attained  by  harmony  and  co-operation  on  the 
other,  and  he  spoke  with  such  earnestness  and  power  that  he  succeeded, 
to  the  surprise  of  his  friends,  in  reconciling  the  conflicting  parties.  The 
plan  which  he  urged  with  so  much  force,  provided  for  preserving  existing 
])references  and  priorities,  sacrificed  no  interest,  but  created  a  new  or 
re-organized  company,  composed  of  holders  of  bonds,  stockholders  and 
creditors,  all  sharing  equally  in  the  future  control  and  management  of  the 
road.  The  adoption  of  it  involve<l  the  appointment  of  a  Receiver  for  the 
whole  line,  pending  the  proceedings  which  were  necessary  to  carry  out  the 
project.  The  Receivership  was  at  once  tendered  to  Mr.  Ogden,  at  a  salary 
of  $25,000  per  annum,  with  entire  unanimity.  This  he  was  forced  to 
decline,  as  he  was  already  overburdened  with  his  private  affairs,  and  liis 
health  seriously  impaired.  It  was  found  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
however,  to  unite  upon  any  other  name,  and  after  again  and  again  declin- 
ing, he  yielded  to  the  solicitation  of  some  of  his  personal  friends,  whose 
fi)rtunes  were  largely  involved,  and  accepted  the  position,  although  declin- 
ing the  large  compensation  proposed,  as  not  warranted  l)y  the  circumstances 
of  the  road.  This  action  secured  the  reorganization  on  the  plan  proposed, 
and  the  completion  of  the  line — and  to-day  it  is  one  of  the  longest,  most 
successful  and  important  roads  in  the  country,  with  a  daily  connection 
between  Chicago  and  New  York,  without  change  of  cars. 

We  have  reverted  to  Mr.  Ogden's  early  interest  in  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific.  When  the  Company  Avas  organized  under  the  Act  of  Congress, 
incorporating   the   Union    Pacific   Railroad   Company,    Mr.  Ogden  was 


WILLIAM    B.   OCtDEN.  23 

chosen  its  first  President.  His  accumulated  business  cares,  however, 
induced  him,  subsequently,  to  retire  from  this  position,  although  advising 
and  co-operating  in  tlie  construction  of  the  road,  and  having  an  active 
interest  in  all  that  concerns  it.  He  has  an  abiding  faith  that,  ere  many 
years  are  past,  a  second  road  will  be  constructed  to  the  Pacific,  on  what  is 
known  as  the  Northern  route,  and  steps  have  already  been  taken  to 
inaugurate  that  project. 

Mr.  Ogden's  practical  mind  and  enterprising  spirit  have  led  him  into 
great  and  varied  undertakings.  In  1856,  he  became  interested  in  a  large 
lumbering  establishment  on  the  Peshtigo  River,  in  Northern  Wisconsin. 
To  this  estate  he  has  been  adding,  from  time  to  time,  until  the  company 
which  he  organized,  and  of  which  he  is  the  principal  owner,  now  has  nearly 
a  hundred  thousand  acres  of  pine  lands,  on  which  are  extensive  mills ;  a 
thriving  village  of  several  hundred  inhabitants ;  a  fine  harbor,  constructed 
on  Green  Bay,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peshtigo  River,  and  the  company 
manufactures  for  the  Chicago  market  some  16,000,000  feet  of  lumber 
annually.  A  large  steam  mill  has  just  been  commenced  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  which  will  increase  this  product  to  50,000,000  a  year. 

In  1860,  he  purchased  at  Brady's  Bend,  on  the  Alleghany  River,  in 
Pennsylvania,  an  estate  of  5,000  acres,  on  which  were  extensive  mines  of 
iron  and  coal,  rolling-mills  and  furnaces,  and  a  village  of  some  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants.  Here,  with  some  friends,  who  subsequently  joined 
him,  he  organized  the  Brady's  Bend  Iron  Company,  with  a  capital  of 
$2,000,000,  which  employs  some  six  hundred  men,  and  makes  two 
hundred  tons  of  rails  daily. 

His  business  causing  him,  of  late  years,  to  spend  much  of  his  time  in 
New  York,  he  purchased  a  handsome  villa,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  in 
Westchester  County,  at  Fordham  Heights,  adjoining  the  High  Bridge. 
To  this  he  has  made  some  additions,  so  that  he  now  has  a  farm  of  a  hun- 
dred and  ten  acres,  with  a  frontage  of  near  half  a  mile  on  the  Harlem 
River.  He  has  recently  enlarged  and  imj^roved  his  old  homestead  at 
Chicago,  where  he  still  retains  his  residence,  and  at  both  of  these  establish- 
ments he  continues  to  dispense  that  large-hearted  hospitality  for  which  his 
name  has  become  almost  a  synonym. 

Nearly  every  public  institution  in  Chicago,  including  the  Rush  Medical 
College,  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest,  the  Historical 
Society,  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  the  Astronomical  Society,  and  the 
University  of  Chicago,  are  greatly  indebted  to  him  for  timely  aid.     He  is 


24  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  latter  institution,  and  liis 
presence  at  all  meetings  of  the  Board  is  welcomed  by  every  friend  of  the 
University  with  great  satisfaction. 

We  have  previously  alluded  to  Mr  Ogden's  political  life.  Since  the 
former  sketch  was  written,  he  has  mainly  eschewed  politics,  and  concen- 
trated his  energies  upon  internal  improvements — his  great  central  idea 
being  the  growth  and  development  of  the  great  Northwest.  Nevertheless, 
in  1860-1,  he  consented  to  accept  from  the  Republican  party  a  seat  in  the 
State  Senate,  where,  though  laboring  under  great  anxiety  on  account  of 
the  disturbed  condition  of  tiic  country,  and  feeling  under  great  appre- 
hension as  to  the  result  of  the  threatened  rebellion,  he  rendered  good 
service  to  his  constituents  and  the  public  in  seeking  in  all  things  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  his  adopted  State,  and  increase  the  facilities  for 
making  Chicago,  what  it  is  destined  to  be,  the  great  interior  city  of 
America. 

William  B.  Ogden  is  a  man  of  noble  mould.  We  claim  not  that  he 
is  faultless,  or  free  from  the  imperfections  and  failings  of  our  common 
humanity;  but  as  a  man,  a  brother,  a  citizen,  a  ])ublic-spirited,  charitable, 
benevolent,  and  capable  man,  we  acknowledge  no  superior,  and  no  name 
in  the  Northwest  calls  up  so  many  acknowledgments  of  public  indebted- 
ness for  general  benefits  resulting  from  individual  energy,  enterprise,  and 
ability,  as  that  of  A\'illiam  B.  Ogden. 

Former  generations  have  commemorated  the  deeds  of  the  worthy  in 
monuments  of  bronze  and  marble.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  that  general  utility  and  the  elevation  and  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  all  classes  are  its  primary  objects.  In  this  century,  men  are 
to  be  measured  and  praised  or  censured  by  tlicir  works. 

The  public  improvements  of  the  Northwest,  radiating  from  the  home 
of  his  adoption,  are  noble  monuments,  commemorating  in  their  usefulness 
both  the  character  and  enterprise  of  the  subject  of    His  sketch. 


li 


JOx^ATHAN   YOUNG   SCAMMON. 


Jonathan  Young  Scammon  was  born  in  Wliitefield,  Lincoln  County, 
Maine,  in  the  year  1812.  He  is  descended  from  an  honorable  stock  on 
the  sides  of  both  parents.  His  father,  the  Hon.  Eliakim  Scammon, 
who  now  lives  in  Gardiner,  Maine,  is  well  known  and  esteemed  in  the 
State,  and  during  many  years  of  his  long  and  useful  life  represented 
Pittston  and  Kennebec  counties  in  the  two  houses  of  the  Legislature.  His 
mother  was  the  daughter  of  David  Young,  a  pioneer  of  East  Pittston, 
and,  when  Maine  was  included  in  Massachusetts,  he  represented  his  neigh- 
borhood in  the  General  Court  of  the  State.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  army 
of  the  Revolution,  and  accompanied  the  expedition  against  Quebec. 

Mr.  Scammon  was  educated  at  the  Maine  Wesleyan  Seminary,  Lincoln 
Academy,  and  Water  ville  College.  He  read  law  in  Hallo  well.  As  soon 
as  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Kennebec  County,  he  left  his  home  for 
a  tour  of  observation  in  several  States.  In  the  course  of  this  journey  he 
reached  Chicago  in  September,  1835.  He  made  the  voyage  on  a  steamer 
from  Buffalo,  via  Green  Bay,  and  the  passengers  were  landed  at  Chicago 
by  means  of  small  l)oats,  the  steamer  being  unable  to  enter  the  harbor. 
He  put  up  at  the  old  Sauganash  Hotel,  which  was  reached  from  the 
landing  by  a  devious  path  through  prairie  grass  and  deep  mud.  The 
hotel  was  crowded,  the  weather  horrible,  and  large  numbers  of  the  people 
were  sick  with  bilious  fever.  Chicago  presented  no  very  inviting  prospect 
to  the  stranger.  At  that  time  the  late  Col.  Richard  J.  Hamilton  was 
Clerk  of  the  Courts  of  Cook  County,  and  Mr.  Henry  Moore,  an  attorney, 
was  his  deputy.  When  the  weather  had  improved  sufficiently  to  justify 
his  traveling,  Mr.  Scammon  made  ready  to  depart;  but  on  the  very  eve 
of  his  leaving,  Mr.  Moore  called  upon  him,  stating  that  the  Circuit 
Court  had  commenced  its  session,  that  he  could  no  longer  serve  as  dcj)uty, 
that  the  person  employed  in  his  place  had  been  stricken  down  with  fever, 


26  BIOGRAPHirAT.   SKETCHES. 

and  therefore  he  desired  Mr.  Scammon  to  assist  Col.  Hamilton  during  the 
term.  The  request  was  complied  Avith  under  the  circumstances^  they 
promising  the  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  Avith  the  forms  of 
practice  in  this  State,  and  it  was  this  accidental  combination  of  events 
that  resulted  in  the  permanent  residence  here  of  a  gentleman  Avhose  name 
has  become  identified  with  every  step  of  the  progress  of  Chicago  since 
then. 

The  services  of  young  Scammon  during  the  term  were  so  satisfactory 
that  he  was  offered,  and  accepted,  the  office  of  deputy  Clerk,  Avith  the 
privilege  of  using  the  Clerk's  office  as  his  own,  for  such  law  business  as  he 
might  have.  At  that  time  Col.  Hamilton  was  Judge  of  Probate,  Clerk 
of  the  Circuit  Court,  Clerk  of  the  County  Commissioner's  Court,  School 
Commissioner,  Recorder  of  Deeds,  Notary  Public  and  Bank  Commissioner, 
and  the  business  of  all  these  offices  was  transacted  in  the  same  small  brick 
building,  which  was  located  at  the  northeast  corner  of- the  present  Court 
House  Square.  In  one  of  the  rooms  of  this  building  INIr.  Scammon 
performed  the  duties  of  Clerk  of  the  Court,  received  his  clients,  and 
lodged  at  night.  In  1836,  he  entered  into  partnershi])  with  B.  S.  Morris, 
Esq.,  in  the  law  business,  which  continued  for  eighteen  months.  A  year 
later,  he  formed  a  law  partnership  Avith  Norman  B.  Judd,  which  continued 
until  1847.  At  that  time,  Mr.  Scammon  had  become  largely  interested 
in  the  Galena  Eailroad  enterprise,  and  devoted  his  time  principally  to 
that  business. 

The  men  of  the  present  day  can  hardly  be  expected  to  comjirehend 
fully  the  courage  and  enterprise  necessary  at  that  time  to  keep  alive  the 
project  of  a  railroad  extending  westward  from  Chicago.  The  construction 
at  the  present  day  of  two  or  more  railroads  across  the  continent,  with 
branches  and  cross-roads,  is  not  one  half  so  imposing  and  startling  an 
enterprise  as  that  which  in  those  days  was  projected  by  Messrs.  Ogden 
and  Scammon.  When  these  gentlemen  came  to  Chicago,  Illinois  Avas  in 
the  full  glow  of  excitement  upon  the  grand  system  of  internal  improve- 
ments. This  system,  which,  so  far  as  railroads  were  concerned,  excluded 
Chicago,  culminated  in  1837,  and  sunk  rapidly.  A  most  disastrous 
torpidity  of  enterprise  followed.  Capitalists  avoided  Illinois,  and  the 
hope  of  any  railroads  Avas  abandoned  by  even  the  most  sanguine.  Messrs. 
Scammon  and  Ogden  stood  almost  alone,  amid  the  ruins,  unappalled  by 
the  overwhelming  disaster.  The  JNIichigan  Central  Raihvay  eventually 
extended  its  line  to  Lake  Michigan,  at  Ncav  Buffalo,  and  there  it  had 


JONATHAN   YOUNG  SCAMMOX.  27 

stopped.  Messrs,  Ogden  and  Seammon,  after  a  long  effort,  succeeded  in 
reviving  an  abandoned  Indiana  charter,  giving  the  exclusive  right  to 
construct  a  railroad  from  Michigan  City  to  Chicago,  and  to  this  law  was 
Chicago  indebted  for  its  first  continuous  railroad  communication  eastward. 

Previous  to  this,  these  gentlemen  had  traveled  repeatedly  from  Chicago 
to  Galena,  holding  meetings  in  every  village,  and  at  every  cross-roads, 
urging  the  people  to  a  united  effort  to  secure  a  railroad  communication 
from  the  Mississippi  to  Chicago  and  thence  east.  They  both  had  invested 
largely  in  the  enterprise,  and  they,  by  personal  pledges,  eventually 
succeeded  in  obtaining  subscriptions  to  stock  to  an  amount  sufficient  to 
authorize  the  commencement  of  the  railroad — being  the  pioneer  railroad 
in  the  vast  combination  of  roads  which  now  bring  the  treasures  of  the 
West  to  the  lap  of  Chicago. 

The  vast  labor  necessary  to  accomplish  even  a  commencement  of  this 
work  may  be  understood,  when  it  is  stated  that  the  majority  of  the  stock- 
holders took  only  single  shares,  and  that  the  aggregate  of  the  stock  was 
held  by  over  fifteen  hundred  persons.  These  shares  were  taken  in  many 
cases  by  persons  having  no  faith  in  the  success  of  the  work,  and  were 
continually  surrendered  to  either  Mr.  Ogden  or  Mr.  Seammon,  upon 
whose  personal  pledges  they  were  subscribed.  Even  after  the  work  was 
under  way,  so  little  confidence  was  felt  in  it  by  the  general  public,  that 
the  Board  of  Directors,  with  few  exceptions,  abandoned  all  hope.  Appli- 
cations at  the  East  were  responded  to  by  reference  to  the  lack  of  confidence 
at  the  West;  yet,  in  the  face  of  all  these  depressing  circumstances,  the 
two  gentlemen  persevered,  until  they  had  demonstrated  a  partial  success, 
and  thereby  enlisted  confidence  among  Eastern  capitalists. 

In  1837,  Mr.  Seammon  was  selected  as  the  attorney  of  the  State  Bank 
of  Illinois,  and  two  years  later  was  appointed  Reporter  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  which  office  he  held  until  1845.  His  volumes  of 
Reports,  the  first  ever  published  in  Illinois,  were  issued  in  a  style  that 
was  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  previously  produced  in  the  Western 
States. 

Mr.  Seammon  was  one  of  those  early  agitators  to  whose  efforts  Illinois, 
and  Chicago  especially,  is  indebted  for  its  system  of  public  schools.  An 
act  was  obtained  from  the  Legislature  for  the  establishment  of  public 
schools,  applicable  only  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  which  act  was  conditional 
upon  its  acceptance  by  the  people  of  the  town,  by  a  vote  of  the  majority, 
at  an   election  held  for  that  purpose.     The  vote  was  taken  in  1836,  and 


28  BIOORAPHICAL   SKETCHE,^. 

the  law  was  rejected — the  residents  wlio  were  mere  speculators  outuum- 
bering  those  who  had  families  and  had  made  the  town  their  permanent 
home.  His  efforts  in  favor  of  free  scliools  did  not  relax  in  consequence 
of  this  failure.  The  first  charter  of  the  city  of  Chicago  soon  followed, 
and  in  that  charter  he  procured  the  insertion  of  a  clause  providing  for 
free  schools.  The  schools  established  under  this  law  were  valueless. 
Public  opinion  had  not  been  educated  up  to  that  point.  In  1839,  Mr. 
Scammon  became  one  of  the  Inspectors,  and  by  his  efforts  the  schools 
were  revived  and  provided  with  a  systematic  government.  In  1844  the 
Dearborn  School  building — now  an  eyesore  to  the  public — was  erected  on 
Madison  Street,  near  State,  and  its  cost  and  dimensions  were  furiously 
denounced.  The  ISIayor  of  the  city,  in  1845,  in  his  inaugural,  recom- 
mended that  the  big  school  house  should  be  sold  or  converted  into  an 
insane  asylum,  and  one  more  suitable  to  the  wants  of  the  city  provided. 
Mr.  Scammon  that  year  entered  the  Board  of  Aldermen  as  a  friend  of  the 
schools,  and  he  not  only  protected  the  "big  school  house,"  but  secured 
the  erection  of  a  similar  one  (Kinzie)  in  the  North  Division,  and  another 
(Scammon)  in  the  AVest  Division.  Thus,  owing  to  the  persistent  efforts 
of  one  man,  was  inaugurated  the  Chicago  system  of  schools  and  school 
buildings,  which  is  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  other  city  in  the  country. 
]\Ir.  Scammon  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  national  politics, 
though  never  as  an  office  seeker.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Whig  party 
until  that  party  was  abandoned,  and  was  always  a  leading  member  of  it 
in  Illinois.  While  a  member  of  that  party,  he  always  was  an  advocate  of 
the  principles  of  human  freedom,  and  opposed  slavery  in  every  legal  and 
rational  manner.  Though  a  Freesoiler,  he  voted  for  Clay  as  against 
Polk,  and  for  Gen.  Taylor  as  against  Cass.  Since  1852  he  has  voted  with 
the  Republican  party,  in  which  he  has  always  been  an  active  and  leading 
member.  He  utterly  repudiated  all  association  w'ith  the  party  known  in 
1844  as  the  "Native  American,"  or  "Know  Nothing"  party.  He  has 
avoided  all  nominations  for  office,  and  except  upon  three  occasions  has 
refused  all  requests  to  be  a  candidate.  The  exceptions  were,  first,  in 
1845,  when  he  was  elected  Alderman,  that  he  might  promote  the  school 
system;  second,  in  1848,  when  he  accepted  the  Whig  nomination  for 
Congress  in  an  overwhelmingly  Democratic  district,  when  he  obtained  a 
majority  in  Chicago,  however,  although  his  party  was  in  a  minority  of 
over  one  thousand  votes;  third,  in  1860,  when  he  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature. 


JONATHAN    YOUNG  SOAMMON.  29 

In  1836,  the  Chicago  Mariiiu  uiul  Fire  Insurance  Company  was 
chartered,  with  banking  privileges ;  subsequently,  it  suspended  business. 
In  1849,  Mr.  Scamnion  became  a  large  stockholder,  and  the  com])any  was 
revived,  and  newly  organized  with  Mr.  Scamnion  as  its  President.  It 
commenced  with  an  actual  cash  capital  of  |25,000.  During  the  ensuing 
ten  years  the  institution  grew  in  wealth  and  credit,  until  in  1857  it  had  a 
capital  of  half  a  million  of  dollars,  and  was  at  the  head  of  the  monied 
institutions  of  the  State  and  of  the  Northwest. 

In  1857,  Mr.  Scammon,  with  his  family,  visited  Euroi)e,  leaving  his 
bank  in  the  prosperous  and  commanding  condition  we  have  described. 
He  returned  in  1860,  to  be  informed  that,  during  his  absence,  a  great 
defalcation  had  taken  place  in  the  institution,  but  that  the  directors  had 
hopes  that  they  had  secured  the  ultimate  repayment  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  missing  funds.  This  hope  would  pro})ably  have  been  realized  Init 
for  the  rebellion  which  followed  in  the  succeeding  winter  and  spring,  and 
which  destroyed  the  value  of  the  securities,  and  compelled  him  to  suspend 
the  operations  of  the  bank.  On  examination  it  appeared  that  the  entire 
capital  of  the  bank  had  been  used  by  the  defaulters  during  his  absence  in 
Europe.  Mr.  Scammon  at  first  thought  that  as  he  had  been  in  Europe 
during  the  entire  period  of  the  defalcation  he  would  not  go  into  the 
bank  again ;  but  upon  examination  of  its  aifairs,  and  yielding  to  the 
demands  of  his  associates,  he  concluded,  as  a  matter  of  duty,  to  resume 
his  position,  hoping  thereby  to  avert  still  greater  losses  to  the  public 
and  stockholders.  Again  he  buckled  on  his  financial  armor,  and  both 
in  the  bank  and  the  Legislature,  (to  which  he  had  in  the  meautinie  ])een 
elected),  labored  incessantly  to  improve  the  currency  and  arrest  the  finan- 
cial crash  that  soon  after  came,  when  the  Illinois  banks,  whose  circulation 
was  largely  based  upon  the  stocks  of  the  Soutliern  States,  went  to  tlie 
wall.  In  no  wise  daunted  by  this  second  disaster,  under  which  so  many 
others  sunk  to  rise  no  more,  he  remained  at  his  post,  enduring  patiently 
the  opprobrium  which  belonged  exclusively  to  others,  dealing  out  to  all 
the  customers  of  the  bank  equal  and  exact  justice. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  thus  engagecl  in  adjusting  the  affairs  of  the 
Marine  Company,  he  opened  a  private  l)an king-house  in  his  own  name, 
which  was  subsequently  merged  ijito  the  Mechanics  National  Bank,  of 
which  he  is  President,  and  having  eventually  paid  off  all  the  indebtedness 
of  the  institutions  wliich  had  been  robbed  in  his  absence,  and  mined  by 
the  financial  crisis  of  1860-'61,  he  restored  them  to  capital  and  credit,  and 


30  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

again  opened  them  to  business.  He  now  presides  over  the  Marine  Com- 
pany of  Chicago,  at  its  banking-house,  corner  of  Lake  and  LaSalle  streets, 
where,  with  a  capital  of  $500,000,  is  transacted  a  large  foreign  as  well  as 
domestic  banking  business,  the  bank  being  the  correspondent  of  several 
important  banking-houses  in  England,  France  and  Germany. 

As  a  banker,  Mr.  Scammon  has  always  been  opposed  to  a  depreciated 
currency.  When  the  new  States  and  Territories  of  the  West  began  to  fill 
up  with  population  and  recuperate  after  the  disasters  of  1837,  the  develop- 
ment and  business  of  this  part  of  the  country  demanded  greater  facilities 
in  the  shape  of  a  circulating  medium.  The  new  States  had  all  prohibited 
banks  of  circulation  by  constitutional  provisions.  The  consequence  was, 
that  from  the  necessities  of  the  case  there  grew  up  an  illegal  and  depre- 
ciated currency.  This  was  tolerated  and  used  because  there  was  no  other. 
This  currency  had  its  centres  mainly  at  Milwaukee,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago. 
In  1851,  under  the  new  Constitution  of  Illinois,  a  general  banking  law 
was  enacted,  and  Mr.  Scammon,  in  establishing  the  first  bank  under  that 
law,  endeavored  to  get  such  a  construction  of  its  terms  as  would  prevent 
the  establishment  of  any  bank  without  a  bona  fide  capital  of  at  least 
$50,000.  This  was  the  manifest  intention  of  the  act,  but  those  who 
wanted  banlcs  without  capital  opposed  and  defeated  his  elibrt.  He  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  securing  the  passage  of  a  law  prepared  by  himself, 
which  absolutely  prohibited  all  illegal  currency,  and  banished  it  from 
the  State.  Those  engaged  in  it  then  obtained  bank  charters  from  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia  and  flooded  the  Northwest  with  Georgia  bank 
notes,  which  necessarily  were  depreciated.  The  success  of  this  scheme 
tempted  others  to  evade  and  pervert  the  general  banking  law  of  the 
State,  by  establishing  banks  of  mere  circulation  at  inaccessible  points, 
without  actual  capital,  and  from  the  difficulty,  delay  and  expense  attending 
the  presenting  of  their  notes  for  redemption,  the  latter  became  sufficiently 
depreciated  to  compete  successfully  with  the  Georgia  bank  notes. 

On  Mr.  Scammon's  return  from  Europe,  in  1860,  he  found  from 
$8,000,000  to  $10,000,000  of  depreciated  Illinois  bank  notes  in  circu- 
lation, they  having  driven  out  of  general  use  the  bills  of  such  of  the 
other  Illinois  banks  as  were  accessible  to  demands  for  redemption.  Much 
of  this  circulation  was  secured  by  the  deposit  of  bonds  of  the  Southern 
States,  which  had  also  become  depreciated.  Mr.  Scammon  zealously 
endeavored,  through  the  Bank  Commissioners  and  otherwise,  to  diminish 
this  circulation  and  get  rid  of  the   doubtful   currency.     He  at   length 


JONATHAN    YOUNG    SC'AMMON.  ^51 

succeeded  in  getting  an  order  for  that  purpose,  Avliirh  avouIcI  have  aceoiii- 
plished  the  desired  end  if  it  liad  not  been  rescinded  or  postponed  In'  the 
subsequent  action  of  the  Commissioners. 

On  taking  his  seat  in  the  Legislature,  January,  1861,  he  introduced  a 
bill  which,  after  having  been  opposed  during  all  the  early  weeks  of  the 
session  by  those  interested  in  the  "  wild  cat "  or  depreciated  currency,  Mas 
substantially  adopted  and  became  a  law.  This  act,  by  requiring  a  central 
redemption,  would  have  restored  a  good  currency,  had  not  the  de})re- 
ciation  of  the  bonds  of  the  Southern  States,  under  the  impending  danger 
of  rebellion,  destroyed  the  principal  security  for  the  redemj^tion  of  the 
notes  of  all  the  Illinois  banks.  Those  of  the  banks  which  survived  the 
crash,  under  the  provisions  of  that  law,  furnished  a  satisfactory  currency 
until  the  national  banking-law  supplanted  all  other  bank  bills  by  a 
national  currency.  The  enemies  of  Mr.  Scammon  endeavored  to  place 
the  odium  of  bank  failures  in  Illinois  upon  him,  and  to  identify  him 
with  a  depreciated  currency,  when,  in  point  of  fact,  nearly  every  amend- 
ment to  the  banking  law  increasing  the  security  of  the  bill-holders  and 
of  the  public,  and  the  entire  law  against  illegal  currency  in  this  Slate, 
originated  and  was  prepared  by  him. 

While  engaged  in  banking  and  railroad  matters,  he  never  failed  to 
contribute  his  full  share  to  the  development  and  improvement  of  the  city 
of  Chicago.  He  has  expended  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  in  sub- 
stantial improvements,  and  always  responds  liberally  to  every  demand  for 
the  advancement  of  the  permanent  prosperity  of  the  city. 

Since  the  disasters  of  1860-61,  Mr.  Scammon,  though  constantly  doing 
a  large  business,  seems  to  have  devoted  his  energies  more  to  the  preserva- 
tion and  maintaining  of  his  institution  than  to  an  extension  of  its  business, 
and  he  has  made  no  effort  for  new  customers,  contenting  himself  with 
pursuing  the  even  tenor  of  his  way. 

As  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Scammon  has  always  had  a  commanding  position  at 
the  bar  of  Illinois.  From  the  day  he  first  hung  out  his  shingle  in  the 
Clerk's  office  until  this  time,  though  engaged  in  a  variety  of  other  and 
engrossing  pursuits,  he  has  maintained  his  identity  as  a  leading  member 
of  the  legal  profession,  and  the  firms  of  which  he  has  been  a  member 
liave  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  business.  When  he  first  commenced 
business  in  Chicago  every  one  was  a  speculator,  and  the  majority  looked 
forward  to  riches  acquired  in  that  manner  rather  than  by  assiduous  labor. 
He  declined  all  offers  to  enter  that  business,  and  applied  liimself  arduously 


32  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

to  his  profession.  His  ability  soon  won  for  him  the  attention  of  the 
public,  and  his  fidelity  and  promptness  in  paying  over  his  collections 
were  followed  by  the  unlimited  confidence  of  his  clients — a  confidence 
which  was  subsequently  of  great  value  to  him  as  a  banker,  and  which  he 
has  retained  under  all  circumstances  since  then.  He  has  made  integrity 
the  first  consideration  in  all  his  dealings  with  his  fellow  men;  his  word  is 
as  sacred  as  his  bond,  and  his  credit  as  a  banker  and  as  an  attorney  he 
has  made  superior  to  all  mere  personal  advantages  or  conveniences.  His 
approval  or  endorsement  of  a  financial  scheme  is  sufficient  to  give  it 
character  with  the  public,  and  this,  because  he  has  never  swerved  on  any 
occasion  from  the  strict  line  of  scrupulous  fidelity  to  the  trusts  and  confi- 
dence reposed  in  him. 

After  his  association  with  Mr.  Judd  as  a  law  partner  had  been 
dissolved  because  of  his  engagement  in  the  railroad  business,  he,  in  1849, 
took  Mr.  Ezra  B.  McCagg,  who  had  been  his  confidential  law  clerk  for 
some  time,  into  partnership,  and  since  then  the  firm  has  been  enlarged  by 
the  introduction  of  Mr.  Samuel  AV.  Fuller.  The  firm  now  does  a  large 
business  under  the  style  of  Scammon,  McCagg  &  Fuller,  although  Mr. 
Scammon  has  not  been  for  some  time  actively  engaged  in  the  profession 
of  the  law. 

He  has  always  been  a  friend  as  well  as  preceptor  to  young  men,  and 
students  who  have  been  called  to  the  bar  from  his  office  have  entered 
upon  the  j)i"ofession  as  thoroughly  versed  in  the  details  of  practice  and 
principle  as  it  was  possible  for  them  to  become. 

As  a  general  business  man,  his  success  is  sufficient  evidence  of  his 
ability.  He  has  made  money,  but  none  by  speculation.  He  has  accumu- 
lated his  Avealth  by  the  exercise  of  judicious  business  qualities.  His 
policy  has  been  to  invest  his  surplus  earnings  in  the  most  promising  offer. 
He  has,  therefore,  never  wasted,  but  has  continually  added  to  his  stock. 
His  real  estate  was  bought  from  his  surplus  earnings,  which  in  that  form 
have  proved  an  immensely  valuable  investment. 

He  is  a  scholar,  of  refined  culture  and  great  attainments.  In  all  his 
varied  and  complicated  business  engagements  he  has  had  time  to'  bestow 
upon  letters  and  the  arts.  He  has  written  much  on  political  economy, 
and  has  also  given  repeated  expression  to  his  views  upon  religious 
subjects.  He  has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  newspaper  press, 
both  editorially  and  otherwise.  He  reads  and  sjDeaks  several  languages, 
and  in  social  intercourse  is  always  the  refined,  instructive  and  courteous 


.JONATHAN    YOUNG   SCAMMoN.  33 

gentleman.  lie  is  benevolent  and  eharitable.  Thouj^h  liiri  name  and  his 
subscriptions  are  familiar  in  conneetion  with  all  public  charities,  he  is 
known  more  generally  to  the  humble  poor,  to  the  needy  and  suffering, 
and  as  the  aider  and  supporter  of  industry  cripided  by  poverty.  Ilis 
benevolence  is  as  broad  as  the  human  family.  Color,  race,  nationality 
nor  creed  are  known  or  asked  when  he  extends  relief.  lie  aids  his 
fellow  man  as  he  would  a  member  of  his  own  family — as  a  child  of  the 
same  and  common  Father. 

One  of  the  early  settlers  of  Chicago,  he  has  been  one  of  the  early 
founders  of  many  of  its  institutions.  He  was  the  first  of  the  New 
Church  or  Swedenborgian  body  of  Christians  in  Chicago.  He  and  his 
wife  and  one  other  person  wore  the  founders  of  that  body  in  Northern 
Illinois;  and  he  has  lived  to  see  himself  surrounded  by  a  numerous  circle 
of  religious  associates,  and  worshipping  in  one  of  the  finest  church 
Iniildings  in  the  city.  He  organized  the  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
in  Chicago.  He  was  also  the  first  man  of  any  prominence  in  Chicago 
who  favored  the  practice  of  the  medical  school  of  Hahnemann.  He  was, 
as  we  have  seen,  a  pioneer  in  the  railroad  system;  he  established  the  first 
bank  under  the  general  banking  law  of  this  State;  he  was  one  of  the 
original  founders  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  of  the  Chicago 
Astronomical  Society,  and  is  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
each  of  these  societies.  The  Dearborn  ToAver,  the  western  tower  of  the 
grand  edifice  of  the  Chicago  University,  in  which  is  placed  the  Alvan 
Clark  Telescope,  the  largest  refracting  telescope  in  the  world,  was  built  at 
his  expense,  and  named  in  honor  of  his  deceased  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Dearborn.  He  was  elected  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Chicago 
University  on  his  return  from  Europe,  and  one  of  its  professorships 
was  endowed  by  his  munificence.  The  family  of  Mr.  Scammon  consists 
of  one  son  and  two  daughters. 

While  in  Europe  in  1857-1860,  he  was  bereft  of  his  wife,  a  lady 
every  way  qualified  to  be  his  companion,  and  to  intensify  the  hai)i)iness 
of  home.  She  -was  buried  in  the  cemetery  in  Soden,  near  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  in  Germany,  where  her  resting-place  is  marked  by  an 
appropriate  marble  monument.  His  son,  Charles  T.  Scammon,  Esq., 
in  partnership  with  Robert  Lincoln,  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law 
in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Scammon,  though  yet  in  the  prime  of  life,  is  one  of  the  fathera 
of  this  city  of  giant  progress.     With  right  aims,  good  objects,  battling  all 


34  BIOGRAPHICAI.   SKETCHES. 

obstacles,  and  overcomiug  every  difficulty,  he  has  won  for  himself  the 
enduring  friendship  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  no  man  is  more  universally 
respected  than  he  for  his  qualities  of  head  and  heart. 

Although  the  monuments  of  progress  upon  which  his  name  is  indelibly 
inscribed  are  many,  and  such  as  he  may  well  be  proud  of,  yet  he  is  as 
actively  engaged  in  business  as  ever,  and  no  doubt  will  live  to  see  the  day 
when  a  still  greater  degree  of  eminence  will  be  attained,  as  time,  with  its 
countless  changes,  gives  him  opportunity. 

The  great  success  of  Mr.  Scammon  may  be  attributed — first,  to  his 
strong  determination  at  the  commencement  of  his  business  career  to  avoid 
speculation,  and  trust  to  a  legitimate  and  steady  progress ;  secondly,  to  his 
straightforward  method  of  conducting  all  transactions,  thereby  securing 
the  lasting  confidence  of  those  with  whom  he  dealt.  In  these  respects,  we 
see  a  model  for  young  men  just  pushing  out  into  active  life,  which,  if 
imitated,  will  certainly  insure  success. 


LIEUT.  GOV.  WILLIAM  BROSS. 


The  great  men  of  our  time  are  self-made.  Born  in  the  ordinary  walks 
of  life,  with  no  special  advantages  above  their  fellows,  and  forced  in  early 
youth  to  labor  for  their  daily  bread,  they  have  risen  above  the  common 
level  by  dint  of  personal  effort,  working  their  way  up  "  the  hill  Difficulty," 
the  true  democratic  road  to  fame.  The  secret  of  their  success  is  industry, 
perseverance  and  integrity.  Firmness  of  purpose,  rectitude  of  intention, 
and  persistence  in  effort  are  their  stock  in  trade,  to  which  is  very  seldom 
added  the  jewel  genius,  the  uncertain  brilliancy  of  which  too  often 
dazzles  but  to  mislead.  Its  place  is,  however,  supplied  by  a  stock  of 
that  very  uncommon  article — common  sense.  A  clear  head,  a  quick 
eye,  an  accurate  judgment,  willing  hands,  and  self  reliance,  are  the  true 
essentials  to  success. 

The  great  man  is  noted  for  his  deeds  of  endurance;  the  man  of  power 
is  known  l)y  his  influence.  While  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  human 
family  attain  to  positions  of  prominence,  fewer  still  exliibit  the  ability  to 
lead  the  masses.  To  achieve  the  greatness  of  power,  one  needs  tlie  ability 
to  grasp,  group,  and  generalize  the  facts  and  ideas  of  the  times  in  advance 
of  the  mass,  to  reason  out  the  solution  of  the  ever  recurrent  social  problem, 
and  make  it  patent  to  the  popular  mind,  pointing  out  the  path  of 
improvement,  mental,  social,  or  physical,  and  inducing  tlie  people  to  travel 
therein,  not  by  the  force  of  fire  and  steel,  but  by  th(;  liigh  and  holy  process 
of  enlightenment.  He  who  at  once  informs  and  impels  is  tlie  true  hero, 
the  king  among  his  fellow  men. 

The  force  whicli  sways  and  moves  the  moral  world,  and  through  it  the 
physical,  finds  its  fulcrum  in  the  schoolroom,  and  its  lever  in  the  press. 
The  daily  is.sues  of  the  latter  are  the  great  exi)onents  of  poj)ular  thought 
and  action,  and  are  always  resorted  to  by  those  who  would  change  its  tone, 
direction,  rate  of  progress,  or  force.     In  the  hands  of  the  really  able  man, 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

the  newspaper  is  not  only  the  recorder  but  the  stimulator;  it  tells  what 
has  been  done,  and  leads  men  to  think  what  ought  to  have  been  done; 
what  may  be  accomplished,  and  how  the  work  may  be  achieved.  It  is 
the  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  hour,  and  an  index  of  future  action.  It 
points  with  equal  tenor  to  lines  of  national  policy  to  l)e  adopted,  and  of 
railroads  to  be  built;  it  sketches  the  pecuniary,  sanitary,  or  moral  capital 
which  lies  couched  in  certain  conditions  and  locations,  like  gold  in  the 
unwrought  mine,  and  incites  to  improvement  of  the  opportunity.  It  is  a 
power  for  good  to  the  people. 

Such  a  man  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  such  his  sphere  of  action,  sucli 
his  influence.  The  life-record  of  William  Bross  is  a  history  of  action, 
of  ])r()minence,  of  power.  Whether  as  the  poor  boy,  the  hard-working 
lund)erman,  the  faithful  student  achieving  an  education  in  the  face  of 
debt,  the  teacher,  the  bookseller,  the  editor,  tlie  alderman,  the  orator,  or 
the  Lieutenant  Governor  of  his  adopted  State,  his  career  has  uniformly 
been  one  of  influential  activity.  His  position  has  been  that  of  leader,  and 
his  amljition  has  ever  been  to  set  the  world  to  thinking  and  acting.  As 
a  moulder  of  popular  sentiment,  an  instigator  of  public  improvement, 
Mr.  Bross  has  few  equals,  perhaps  no  superiors.  Especially  has  his 
influence  been  potent  in  Chicago,  as  in  the  Northwest,  in  directing  its 
activities  and  shaping  its  destinies;  to  Mr.  Bross  is  largely  attributable 
its  present  comparative  status,  its  power  and  prosperity. 

Mr.  Bross  is  the  oldest  son  of  Deacon  IMoses  Bross,  now  a  resident  of 
Morris,  Grundy  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  Sussex  county,  New  Jersey,  about  two  miles  from  Port  Jervis,  on  the 
4th  of  November,  1813,  in  an  old  log  house,  situated  in  a  romantic  spot, 
Avliich  has  recently  been  put  on  canvas  by  the  well  known  artist,  Sontag, 
of  New  York.  The  first  nine  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  that 
county,  at  the  end  of  M'hich  time  the  family  removed  to  Milford,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  William  lived  till  he  attained  the  age  of  manhood. 
When  the  work  on  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  was  commenced,  his 
father  went  into  the  lumbering  business  near  Shohola,  Pike  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  furnished  the  timber  for  the  locks  and  aqueduct 
bottoms  for  a  long  stretch  of  the  canal.  This  took  William  to  the  lumber 
woods,  and  it  was  at  this  work  that  he  developed  his  muscular  system  to 
a  high  degree,  fitting  his  constitution  to  bear,  without  injury,  the  heavy 
tax  which  his  mental  labors  subsequently  imposed. 

In  1832  he  commenced  his  classical  education  at  the  Milford  Academy, 


WILLIAM    BROSS.  37 

then  tuuglit  by  Rev.  Edward  .\lleii.  Two  years  later,  he  entered 
AVilliams  College,  and  though  his  preparatory  studies  had  been  sadly 
interfered  Avith  by  the  manual  labors  of*  lumbering,  rafting,  etc.,  he  was 
soon  known  as  a  promising  student,  as  from  the  first  he  was  noted  for  his 
close  application.  He  graduated  with  honors  in  1838.  He  was  at  that 
time  six  hundred  dollars  in  debt  for  his  education,  which,  however,  he 
soon  paid  from  his  earnings.  How  different  his  position  then  from  that 
occupied  by  him  in  1866 — tAventy-eight  years  afterwards — when,  having 
proved  himself  one  of  the  worthiest  among  the  many  worthies  who  had 
graduated  there,  he  delivered  the  address  to  the  Alumni  of  "Old 
Williams." 

In  the  autumn  of  1838,  Mr.  Bross  became  principal  of  Ridgebury 
Academy,  near  his  birthplace,  and  taught  there  with  great  success  till  the 
spring  of  1843,  when  he  removed  to  Chester,  and  taught  there  for  five 
years;  he  then  shaped  his  course  for  Chicago.  As  an  instructor  Mr. 
Bross  was  highly  esteemed,  and  many  of  his  then  pupils  have  since  made 
honorable  mark  in  the  world.  He  was  known  as  a  thorough  classical 
scholar;  he  was  also  an  ardent  student  of  natural  history,  and  insisted  on 
a  broad  acquaintance  with  American  geography  and  history  on  the  part 
of  his  pupils. 

In  1839,  Mr.  Bross  took  to  himself  a  wife — the  only  daughter  of  the 
late  Dr.  John  T.  Jansen,  of  Goshen,  New  York.  After  having  been 
married  some  years,  he  looked  around  to  see  if  he  could  not  find  some 
better  place  in  which  to  settle,  and  called  to  his  aid  his  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  the  States,  much  of  which  had  been  acquired  in  teaching. 
In  October,  1846,  he  started  on  a  tour  of  observation — visited  Chicago, 
St.  Louis  and  other  western  cities.  He  found  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Michigan  a  little  town,  and  recognized  it  as  the  future  focus  of  the 
commerce  of  the  great  Northwest,  when  the  West  should  be  settled  and 
its  vast  resources  developed.  He  had  faith  in  Cliicago,  and  showed  his 
faith  by  his  works.  He  decided  to  make  it  his  home.  He  closed  his 
school  and  moved  hither,  arriving  in  the  Garden  City  on  the  12th  of 
May,  1848. 

Mr.  Bross  came  here  as  the  active  partner  in  the  bookselling  firm  of 
Griggs,  Bross  &  Co.,  composed  of  S.  C.  Griggs,  Mr.  Bross,  and  the  house 
of  Newman  <t  Co.,  of  Now  York,  each  of  the  three  parties  having  an 
equal  interest,  INIr.  Bross  commenced  the  business,  and  continued  alone 
until  autumn,  when  Mr.  Griggs  came  on  from  the  East.     He  continued  in 


38  BIOGKAPHICAT.    SKETCHES. 

this  business  for  about  a  year  and  a  quarter,  when,  finding  the  profits  at 
that  early  day  to  be  too  small,  the  partnership  was  dissolved.  The  estab- 
lishment of  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.  is  now  known  as  one  of  the  leading  book 
houses  in  the  United  States.  E.  L.  Jausen,  Esq.,  the  youngest  brother 
of  Mrs.  Bross,  is  now,  and  for  many  years  has  been,  a  leading  member 
of  this  firm. 

In  the  autumn  of  1849,  Mr.  Bross  commenced,  in  conjunction  with 
Rev.  J.  A.  Wight,  to  publish  the  "Prairie  Herald,"  a  religious  newspaper, 
which  was  continued  for  about  two  years  with  moderate  success. 

The  year  1852  is  marked  in  the  history  of  Chicago  as  the  coramence- 
jnent  of  her  real  prosperity.  In  that  year  the  city  was  connected  with 
the  East  by  the  two  great  iron  arteries  known  as  the  Michigan  Central 
and  Michigan  Southern  Railroads;  the  Illinois  Central  was  begun,  and 
the  Rock  Island  road  was  opened  up  as  far  as  Joliet,  while  every  other 
railway  now  leading  out  of  Chicago  was  either  projected  or  agreed  for, 
the  Galena  road  being  finished  to  Elgin.  The  opening  up  of  these 
numerous  commercial  avenues  gave  a  wonderful  imi)ctus  to  the  business 
of  the  city.  Mr.  Bross  perceived  the  o2)p()rtunity,  and  availed  himself 
of  it.  He  saw  that  the  city  and  the  "West  were  destined  to  increase 
rapidly,  and  that  a  good  commercial  newspaper  was  necessary  to  give  a 
faithful  exhibit  of  their  transactions.  He  recognized,  at  the  same  time, 
the  great  value  to  the  city  of  a  paper  which  would  inform  the  people  of 
other  cities  of  the  surpassing  advantages  offered  to  those  locating  here. 
He  felt  that  all  which  was  needed  to  draw  hither  the  brain  and  muscle, 
the  enterprise  and  capital  of  the  East,  was  to  let  the  Eastern  people 
know  what  was  being  done  here,  and  what  could  be  done.  He  appreciated 
the  position,  and  to  appreciate  was  to  resolve.  In  company  with  the  late 
John  L.  Scripps,  Esq.,  Postmaster  of  Chicago  under  Mr.  Lincoln,  he 
started  the  "Democratic  Press,"  the  first  number  of  which  was  issued 
Septend)cr  16,  1852,  with  a  list  of  about  one  hundred  subscribers  to  the 
daily  edition,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  the  weekly. 

INIr.  Bross  had  always  been  a  Democrat,  but  in  his  position  of  teacher, 
religious  editor  and  bookseller,  he  had  kept  aloof  from  party  politics. 
The  "Democratic  Press"  was,  however,  established  as  a  political  paper,  as 
well  as  with  intent  commercial.  It  was  conservative  in  its  tone,  in 
especial  opposition  to  what  were  then  regarded  as  the  intense  abolition 
doctrines  advocated  by  Wentworth.  When,  in  the  winter  of  1853-4, 
Douglas   brought  out   his  bill  to  repeal   the  IMissouri  Comj)romisc,  the 


WILLIAM   inio.ss.  39 

"Democratic  Press"  opposed  him  bitterly,  and  probably  did  lilni  more 
harm  in  the  discussion  of  the  Nebraska  question  than  any  other  influence 
in  the  United  States.  It  fought  that  issue  with  all  the  energy  of  Mhich 
its  editors  were  capable. 

The  formation  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  aulumn  of  185-1,  ^\•]l(•Il 
the  first  formal  meeting  was  held  in  Springfield,  in  this  State,  was 
accompanied  by  a  change  in  the  political  course  of  the  "Press,"  and  jNIr. 
Bross  was  not  only  quickly  noted  as  a  vigorous  writer  in  advocacy  of 
Republican  doctrines,  but  soon  thereafter  as  an  eloquent  speaker  in  the 
same  cause.  His  first  political  speech  was  delivered  at  an  impromptu 
meeting  held  in  Dearborn  Park,  endorsing  the  nomination  of  John  C. 
Fremont,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  he  was  nominated,  that 
being  his  first  public  endorsement  in  the  West.  He  at  once  took  the 
stump,  going  into  Southern  Illinois,  and  speaking  there  with  varying 
success,  amid  the  darkness  of  Egypt.  He  made  the  only  speech  ever 
delivered  at  Cairo  in  favor  of  Fremont.  He  has  been  on  the  stump  in 
every  subsequent  canvass,  generally  taking  the  worst  districts  in  the 
southern  and  central  portions  of  the  State,  where  Avork  was  to  be  done. 
His  labors  during  the  past  ten  years  in  this  direction  have  been  of  great 
value  to  the  Republican  party. 

The  "Democratic  Press"  was  ably  conducted  as  a  political  journal, 
but  it  was  in  its  commercial  aspect  that  it  took  the  lead,  and  this  was 
largely  the  work  of  Mr.  Bross,  whose  FCerculean  labors  will  be  better 
appreciated  from  the  statement  that  during  the  last  six  months  of  1854, 
■while  Mr.  Scripps  was  prostrate  on  a  sick  bed,  the  paj)er  was  conducted 
exclusively  by  his  hale  associate,  without  suifering  in  interest.  The  first 
financial  article  ever  published  in  the  commercial  columns  of  any  news- 
paper in  Chicago  appeared  in  the  "Democratic  Press;"  it  was  Avritten  by 
Mr.  Bross,  and  was  followed  by  the  series  of  reports  which  established 
that  as  THE  commercial  paper  of  Chicago,  and  formed  the  foundation  of 
the  present  voluminous  commercial  reports  which  mark  the  Chicago 
dailies. 

The  leading  idea  of  Messrs.  Scripps  and  Bross  in  starting  this  paper 
was,  as  already  stated,  to  write  up  Chicago  and  the  Northwest;  to  set 
forth  our  capacity  for  improvement,  describe  our  climate,  soil  and  produc- 
tions, so  that  the  peoples  of  other  sections  could  be  enabled  to  understand 
our  natural  and  acquired  advantages,  they  being  satisfied  that  this  was  all 
that  yxaa  necessary  to  attract  hither  money  and  muscle  in  abundance,  and 


40  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

enable  us  the  more  rapidly  to  work  out  our  manifest  destiny.  This  idea 
Avas  very  fully  carried  out.  From  the  first,  the  spare  moments  of  Mr. 
Bross  were  deyoted  to  the  gathering  of  facts  and  statistics  about  the  great 
AVest,  and  his  j^en  was  eyer  busy  in  putting  them  in  shape  for  the  world 
to  read.  In  addition  to  regular  statistical  articles  in  the  paper,  he  issued 
numerous  pamphlets,  the  year  1854  being  marked  by  the  appearance  of  a 
comprehensiye  pamphlet  containing  a  full  description  of  the  railroad 
system  then  existent  and  projected  with  Chicago  as  its  center,  a  history  of 
oiu'  citA'  from  the  earliest  period,  and  a  review  of  the  trade  and  commerce 
of  the  past  year.  These  articles  had  previously  appeared  in  the  columns 
of  the  "Press."  The  latter  ])art  of  this  jiamphlet  was  one  of  a  series  of 
annual  summaries  wliicli  have  served  to  let  the  whole  world  know,  year 
by  year,  what  Chicago  and  the  West  were  doing,  and  to  note  her  wonderful 
increase — great,  even  by  comparison  with  the  raj)id  growth  of  other 
AYestern  cities.  The  jvampldet  above  referred  to  was  widely  scattered 
over  the  East  and  Europe,  and  was  the  first  intimation  to  thousands  of 
the  fact  that  there  was  such  a  jilace  as  Chicago.  ISIany  of  those  thousands 
have  since  made  it  their  home,  and  aided  in  its  j)rosperity. 

Mr.  Bross  chiefly  wrote  of  Chicago  in  tlie  j)resent,  but  his  pen  rested 
not  until  it  pictured  the  future;  it  did  so  most  vividly — wildly,  as  many 
then  thought,  but  accurately,  as  we  now  know  and  see.  In  his  pamphlet 
of  1854  Ave  read:  "We  are  now  in  direct  railroad  connecti(m  with  all 
the  Atlantic  cities  from  Portland  to  Baltimore.  Five,  and  at  most  eight, 
years  will  extend  the  circle  to  Xew  Orleans.  B3'  that  time,  also,  we  shall 
shake  hands  with  the  rich  copper  and  iron  mines  of  Lake  Superior,  both 
by  canal  and  railroad,  and  long  ere  another  seventeen  years  liave  passed 
away,  we  shall  have  a  great  national  railroad  from  Chicago  to  Puget's 
Sound,  with  a  branch  to  San  Francisco."  In  another  part  of  the  same 
pamphlet,  after  sketching  the  advantages  of  our  situation,  4=peaking  of  the 
low  rate  of  mortality,  and  the  position  of  Chicago  at  the  head  of  the 
chain  of  lakes,  as  marking  her  for  all  time  the  grea<  collecting  and 
distributing  point  for  all  that  immense  region  lying  to  the  westward,  he 
points  confidently  to  the  "free  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawr'^nce,  by  which 
means  vessels  loaded  at  our  docks  will  be  able  to  make  th^ir  way  to  the 
ocean,  and  thence  direct  to  the  docks  of  Liverpool."  And  of  the  great 
coal  fields  of  Illinois,  the  lead  mines  of  Galena,  and  the  iron  and  copper 
mines  of  Lake  Superior,  when  connected  with  this  city,  he  w^'ote  that 
they  all  "point  to  Chicago  as  the  ultimate  seat  of  extensive  manufactures." 


WILLIAM    BROSS.  41 

Many  there  were,  even  among  the  believers  in  the  future  greatness  of 
Chicago,  who  looked  on  Mr.  Bross  as  a  visionary  prophet,  or  as  one  who 
suffered  his  imagination  to  run  away  with  his  judgment.  It  is  not  so  now. 
Our  subsequent  history  has  vindicated  his  judgment,  and  shown  the 
realization  of  almost  all  that  he  dared  to  predict.  Had  it  not  been  that  the 
public  improvements  of  the  West  were  largely  interfered  with  by  the  war 
for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion — a  struggle  which  did  not  enter  into 
the  calculation — every  one  of  those  great  ideas  would  now  l^e  fixed  facts, 
and  the  realization  of  none  is  far  distant.  The  Pacific  Railroad  will  be 
completed  before  his  seventeen  years  have  rolled  away,  and  ship  navigation 
around  Niagara  cannot  much  longer  be  delayed. 

The  fact  is  that  Mr.  Bross  simply  set  himself  down  to  a  review  of  the 
situation.  From  his  desk  in  Chicago  he  looked  out  on  the  great  area 
around  him,  and  recognized  the  necessities  of  the  future.  He  looked  not 
only  with  the  eye  of  faith,  but  with  a  scientific  vision,  taking  in  at  a 
glance  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  drawing  legitimate  inferences.  He  had 
faith  in  the  future,  but  it  was  based  on  the  works  of  the  present — the 
causes  then  operating,  which  in  the  very  nature  of  things  must  produce 
certain  results.  As  a  contemporary  recently  remarked  concerning  him: 
"His  commercial  and  railway  articles,  though  often  ajjpearing  to  border 
on  the  fabulous,  have  been  more  than  verified  by  the  facts  and  figures 
gathered  by  the  sober,  careful  statistician.  He  is  in  fact  one  of  the  best 
statisticians  at  the  West,  and  this,  together  with  extensive  travel,  and 
careful  personal  observation,  enabled  him  the  better  to  foresee  that 
wonderful  progress  destined  so  soon  to  be  fully  realized." 

The  Georgian  Bay  Canal  was  one  of  Mr.  Bross'  earliest  projects.  He 
was  studying  the  map  of  the  then  Northwest,  in  the  winter  of  1854,  and 
especially  thinking  of  the  future  of  Western  commerce.  His  eye  rested 
on  the  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Georgian  Bay  and  Lake  Ontario, 
with  rivers  running  in  each  direction  from  Lake  Simcoe.  He  knew  the 
great  difficulty  which  had  been  experienced  in  passing  the  St.  Clair  Flats, 
and  thought  of  the  still  greater  impediment  they  would  offer  to  navigation 
in  the  future.  He  went  down  on  South  Water  Street,  and  there  met 
Colonel  Hubbard,  with  whom  he  discussed  the  route,  (that  gentleman  had 
passed  from  near  Toronto  to  the  Georgian  Bay  with  his  canoes  in  1818, 
when  he  first  came  to  Chicago,)  and  afterwards  gathered  from  him  and 
Captain  Dorchester  the  facts  which  formed  the  basis  of  an  article  on  this 
subject.     That  article  was  taken  hold  of  by  the  late  George  Steel,  and  by 


42  BIOGRAnilCAL    SKETCIIER. 

him  scattered  over  Canada,  calling  iniblic  attention  universally  to  the 
subject.  The  scheme  for  a  canal  was  so  favorably  received  that  in 
September,  1855,  a  Convention  was  held  in  Toronto  to  consider  the 
subject,  and  the  resulting  survey  made  by  Kivas  Tully,  with  Colonel 
R.  B.  Mason  as  consulting  engineer,  demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  the 
work.  The  funds  required  to  pay  for  the  publication  of  their  report  were 
collected  by  Mr.  Bross,  who  also  furnished  much  of  the  statistical  matter 
embodied  in  the  rej^ort,  and  in  that  of  Colonel  Mason. 

In  1855,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Common  Council  of  this  city, 
and  served  the  corporation  in  that  capacity  for  two  years,  paying  particular 
attention  to  everything  connected  Avith  the  development  of  our  commercial 
resources. 

The  panic  of  1857,  and  its  succeeding  depression,  operated  very 
disastrously  upon  AVestern  newspaper  interests.  The  "Democratic  Press" 
felt  the  shock,  and  the  "Tribune"  also  suffering  somewliat  in  its  business, 
a  union  of  interests  was  effected,  and  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1858,  the 
two  papers  were  consolidated,  under  the  name  of  "The  Press  and  Tribune," 
a  name  wliich  was  continued  for  two  years,  when  the  former  portion  of 
the  title  was  dropped,  and  "The  Tribune"  stood  as  the  name  of  the  paper 
for  the  future.  The  "great  consolidated,"  as  the  paper  was  then  called 
by  the  "Times,"  had  a  proprietary  of  six — Messrs.  Bross,  John  L.  Scripps, 
and  B.  W.  Spears,  from  the  "Press,"  and  Dr.  C.  H.  Ray,  Joseph  Medill, 
and  Alfred  Cowles,  of  the  "Tribune."  Of  tliese,  only  Messrs.  Bross, 
Medill  and  Cowles  are  now  connected  with  the  })aper. 

On  the  consolidated  paper,  Mr.  Bross  continued  to  Avork  as  he  had 
done  before,  hard,  earnestly,  constantly.  He  devoted  his  attention  chiefly 
to  the  commercial  and  statistical  departments,  and  contiiuied  till  a  recent 
date  to  write  the  financial  article  daily.  Hence  tlie  course  of  the  "  Chicago 
Tribune"  has  been  that  of  Mr.  Bross,  and  his  public  life  for  the  past  few 
years  can  scarcely  be  sketched  without  speaking  of  the  paper,  especially 
as  the  tendency  of  modern  journalism  has  been  to  sink  the  individuality 
in  the  mass.  So  far  as  we  speak  of  Mr.  Bross  in  his  newspaper  relations, 
it  must  be  understood  of  his  able  associates,  that  under  his  and  their 
management,  the  "Tribune"  has  become  one  of  the  very  best  newspapers, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  most  influential,  in  the  United  States, 

The  "  Tribune "  early  advocated  the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  being,  in  fact,  the  first  to  publicly 
announce  him  as  the  man  for  the  position.      It  publisiied  the  celebrated 


WILLIAM    BROSS.  43 

debates  between  Lincoln  and  Donglas  when  they  contested  for  (lie  Senator- 
ship,  and  believed  that  Lincoln  wonld  l)e  tlie  best  man  to  oppose  his 
claims  to  the  Presidential  chair.  The  nomination  secnred,  ]Mr.  Bross 
bent  all  his  energies  to  the  work  of  securing  his  election,  and  labored 
jiight  and  day  for  that  resnlt,  notwithstanding  the  mntterings  of  the 
secession  storm  which  even  then  were  heard  on  the  distant  horizon. 
When  the  boom  of  the  first  gun  fired  against  Fort  Sumter  sounded  as 
the  primal  note  in  the  long  roll  which  called  the  nation  to  arms,  Mr. 
Bross  was  active  in  stimulating  recruiting,  and  his  voice  was  from  that 
moment  "still  for  war"  till  the  last  armed  rebel  should  surrender.  His 
was  no  temporizing  policy.  He  believed  in  a  war  which  should  be  "short, 
sharp  and  decisive,"  waged  on  the  high  ground  of  "Liberty  and  Union." 
Even  while  the  lamented  Lincoln  was  doubting  that  the  issuance  of 
that  "Emancipation  Proclamation"  which  has  since  made  him  immortal 
would  be  of  no  more  efiPect  than  the  "Pope's  bull  against  the  comet," 
Mr.  Bross  was  advocating  the  liberation  of  the  bondmen,  and  demanding 
that  the  oppressed  be  set  free.  From  that  time  fi^'tli,  till  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  was  the  unswerving  friend  of  the  Union  cause,  giving  largely 
of  his  personal  means  to  help  it  onward,  and  bringing  every  possible 
influence  to  bear  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  result: — "A  nation 
saved,  a  people  freed."  We  may  add,  incidentally,  that  he  aided  mate- 
rially in  the  discovery  of  the  rebel  conspiracy  at  Camp  Douglas  in 
November,  1864,  and  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  raising  of  the  29tli 
U.  S.  Regiment  of  Colored  Volunteers  in  Illinois  and  adjoining  States, 
which  was  commanded  by  his  brother,  the  late  Colonel  John  A.  Bross, 
who  was  killed  while  bravely  storming  the  rebel  works  at  Petersburg,  Va., 
on  the  30th  of  July,  1864. 

The  efforts  of  Mr.  Bross  to  aid  the  Union  cause,  and  to  secure  the 
re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  were  duly  appreciated  l)y  the  people  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  who,  at  their  last  general  election,  chose  him  as  their 
Lieutenant-Governor  by  a  majority  of  more  than  thirty  thousand.  He 
has  more  than  justified  the  expectations  formed  of  him  by  the  very  efficient 
manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office. 

In  1865,  Mr.  Bross,  in  company  with  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax  and 
others,  made  the  celebrated  overland  trip  to  Califorjiia,  passing  across  the 
extensive  plains  of  the  Platte  Valley,  through  the  valleys  of  the  Salt 
Lake,  over  the  snow-clad  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Sierra 
Nevada  ranges,  and  down  the  fertile  California  slopes,  informing  himself 


44  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  the  character  of  the  country  and  the  habits  of  the  people,  and  speaking 
to  them  often,  with  Speaker  Colfax,  on  the  subjects  in  which  they  were 
most  interested.  The  results  of  that  trip,  its  incidents,  and  the  obserya- 
tions  made,  haye  been  giyen  to  the  world  fully.  Mr.  Bross  has  detailed  the 
facts  and  lessons  of  the  journey  to  crowded  audiences  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  New  York,  the  Legislature 
of  tliis  State,  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  numerous  literary  and  scientific 
associations,  east  and  west. 

Mr.  Bross  has  been  the  subject  of  severe  family  affliction.  The  father 
of  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  only  one  of  the  latter  is  now  alive,  a 
young  lady  of  great  promise  and  rare  mental  endowments.  The  other 
seven  all  sleep  beneath  the  sod  in  llosehill  Cemetery,  where  their  bereaved 
parent  has  raised  a  fitting  monument  to  their  memory.  Mrs.  Bross,  his 
early  choice,  the  companion  of  his  labors,  tlie  sharer  of  his  triumphs,  a 
most  estimable  hidy,  is  still  living. 

Personally,  Lieut.  Governor  Bross  is  a  man  of  medium  height,  robust 
frame,  square  features,  ruddy  complexion,  high  foreliead,  luxuriant  hair, 
gray  eye;  resolute,  wide-awake,  yet  pleasant  expression  of  countenance; 
brisk  step  and  easy,  graceful  carriage.  He  is  one  of  those  described  some 
twenty  years  ago  in  "Chambers'  Edinburgh  Journal"  as  men  "with  a 
presence,"  tlie  personal  appearance  being  a  better  passport  to  one's  favor- 
able consideration  than  a  dozen  letters  of  recommendation.  The  opinion 
gathered  by  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred,  from  a  survey  of  liis  a])pearance, 
would  be  that  he  is  a  man  of  good,  sound,  sterling,  practical,  common 
sense ;  not  afraid  of  work,  persistent  in  effort,  quick  in  perception  and 
temper,  straightforward,  sincere,  a  fast  friend,  a  man  with  a  large  heart, 
clear  head,  quick  eye,  honest  intentions  and  dignified  in  action.  They 
would  not  be  far  wrong.  In  his  case,  most  emphatically,  the  face  is  the 
index  of  his  soul.  His  character  is  all  this  and  more.  There  is  nothing 
of  the  hypocrite  about  him,  and  he  detests  hypocrisy  in  others.  He  is 
warm  hearted  and  charitable  in  a  practical  sense,  though  his  left  hand 
does  not  always  know  what  his  right  hand  doeth.  As  a  friend  to  the 
cause  of  science  he  is  always  liberal,  and  none  is  more  ready  than  he  to 
take  by  the  hand  the  young  man  who  is  struggling  to  make  his  way  in 
the  world  in  the  face  of  difficulty.  But  lie  has  no  particular  reverence 
for  genius.  He  believes  in  hard  work,  energy,  industry,  honesty  and 
economy.  These  have  been  the  distinguishing  traits  of  his  own  career, 
and  he  recognizes  them  as  the  true  elements  of  greatness  in  others.     Their 


WILLIAM    BROSS. 


45 


possessor  is  sure  of  his  esteem;  without  thciu  mere  brilliancy  is  no  recom- 
mendation to  his  favor. 

Socially,  Mr.  Bross  is  free  and  cheerful ;  as  a  father,  kind,  affectionate 
and  affable.  In  his  management  of  a  newspai)er,  he  Avas  always  just,  and 
ready  to  give  his  greatest  enemy  a  fair  chance  of  l)eing  heard.  As  an 
employer,  he  was  always  at  home  with  those  under  liim,  and  was  regarded 
by  them  with  almost  filial  feelings.  He  never  expected  a  man  to  do  a 
superhuman  work,  but  did  retpiire  of  him  the  faithfid  discharge  of  his 
duty,  and  in  return  was  willing  to  treat  him  as  an  equal  and  pay  the 
highest  wages.  His  public  duties  have  recently  prevented  him  from 
continuing  the  active  control  of  the  "  Tribune,"  but  his  influence  is  still 
seen  and  felt  as  President  of  the  "Tribune"  Company,  and  the  same 
principles  of  action  govern  in  its  management  noAV  as  in  years  gone  by. 

He  is  an  able  writer,  one  of  the  few  whose  every  stroke  tells.  Possessed 
of  a  va.st  fund  of  information,  he  always  knows  exactly  what  he  is  writing 
about,  and  if  uncertain  on  any  point,  hunts  up  the  exact  truth  before 
proceeding.  He  is  not  a  florid  or  strictly  argumentative  writer,  but  at 
once  pleasing  and  convincing.  He  has  a  great  ability  in  stating  flicts,  in 
rapidly  throwing  them  together,  and  giving  the  deduction.  Follow  out 
the  idea  conveyed  in  his  connecting  link,  and  you  have  a  perfect  chain  of 
argument.  Hence  his  writings  have  been  always  read  and  have  carried 
conviction,  striking  home  to  the  heart,  and  leaving  just  enough  of  a  trace 
to  enable  one  to  follow  the  path  of  the  hammer  after  the  blow  is  struck. 
His  statement  of  facts  carries  with  it  the  major,  and  the  minor  lies  couched 
in  the  ergo. 

His  oratorical  powers  are  of  a  very  superior  order.  His  sentences  are 
well  rounded,  his  words  to  the  point,  his  action  graceful  and  not  excessive; 
his  tones  full,  sympathetic,  and  always  natural.  His  delivery  is  of  the 
fluent  order,  not  so  rapid  as  to  mar  the  distinctness  of  the  utterance,  but 
sufficiently  so  to  tax  all  the  energies  of  a  first-class  phonographer  to  keep 
pace  with  him.  He  is  eloquent  and  effective,  carrying  with  him  the  ears 
and  hearts  of  the  audience.  He  is  best  known  as  a  political  speaker, 
having  engaged  actively  during  ten  years  past  in  every  canvass  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  speaking  often  from  the  same  ])latfi)rm  with  Tiincoln, 
Lovejoy,  Trumbull,  Logan,  Oglesby,  Yates,  Colfax,  Wiushburne,  and  other 
leading  men  of  the  West. 

As  Speaker  of  the  Illinois  State  Senate,  Lieutenant-Governor  Bross 
has  presided  with  great  efficiency,  much  dignity,  and  absolute  fairness 


46  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

through  two  regular  sessions  and  one  extra  session.  When  we  say  that 
liis  decisions  have  been  appealed  from  in  only  two  instances,  and  never 
reversed,  we  say  enough  to  show  the  high  estimate  of  his  abilities  held 
by  those  who  are  the  best  judges. 

In  September  last,  Lieutenant-Governor  Bross  left  this  city  on  a 
European  tour,  accompanied  by  his  daughter,  and  visited  the  points 
of  most  prominent  interest,  sketching  his  impressions  and  experiences  in 
a  series  of  letters  to  the  "Tribune."  Among  the  places  passed  through 
we  may  note,  in  the  order  visited,  the  following:  Liverpool,  Dublin, 
Belfast,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  London,  Calais,  Paris  and  the  Great 
Exposition,  Brussels,  Berlin,  Munich,  Vienna,  Rome,  Florence,  Naples, 
Genoa,  and  the  buried  cities  of  Herculanaeum  and  Pompeii,  returning 
through  Paris  and  England  to  his  home,  which  he  reached  in  the  early 
part  of  March,  1868,  after  a  six  months'  absence. 

Mr.  Bross  is  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  only  in  his  fifty-fourth  year, 
and  is  as  active  as  ever,  and  capable  of  fresh  triumphs,  great  as  those 
which  have  marked  his  ]>ast  career.  His  thirty  years  of  literary  labor 
have  been  well  sjient,  but  it  is  in  the  latter  half  of  that  time  that  he  has 
achieved  the  work  in  the  West  which  has  placed  his  name  high  among 
those  of  our  prominent  men  and  set  a  peculiarly  "Western  example,  whoso 
influence  has  spread  far  and  wide,  and  will  be  a  bright  and  shining  light 
to  thousands,  showing  them  what  great  results  can  be  attained  by  earnest, 
patient,  conscientioas,  persevering  effort. 


^ 


THOMAS  HOYNE. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1817. 
He  was  the  son  of  respectable  Irish  parents,  who  had  been  compelled 
to  emigrate  in  1815,  in  consequence  of  troubles  in  which  his  father  had 
become  involved  with  the  English  Government.  Though  never  put  on 
trial,  he  was  suspected  of  treasonable  designs,  and  in  case  of  an  outbreak 
would  have  been  made  tiie  victiui  of  immediate  prosecution,  so  that 
prudence  dictated  emigration  as  the  only  safety  from  prospective  difficulty. 
Compelled  to  abandon  his  property,  he  arrived  in  New  York  destitute. 
He  immediately  sought  and  obtained  employment  as  porter  in  a  whole- 
sale house,  at  which  he  labored  to  support  his  children  until  his  death 
in  1829. 

Thomas  was  the  oldest  of  seven  children.  He  was  sent  to  a  Catholic 
school  attached  to  St.  Peter's  Church,  on  Barclay  Street,  New  York,  where 
he  continued  until  the  death  of  his  father.  The  following  year,  his  mother 
died,  and  he  was  left  an  orphan  without  any  means  for  his  support. 

In  1830,  he  was  articled  as  an  apprentice  to  a  manufacturer  of  fancy 
goods,  traveling  cases  and  pocket-books.  He  remained  for  a  period  of 
four  or  five  years,  during  which  his  love  of  literary  pursuits,  which  had 
always  been  a  passion,  led  him  to  join  a  club  known  as  "  The  Literary 
Association,"  of  which  the  late  Judge  Manierre  was  a  prominent  member. 
Among  others  who  were  members  of  this  club,  and  afterwards  distin- 
guished themselves,  were  Hon.  Charles  P.  Daly,  now  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Common  Pleas  of  New  York  City,  Hon.  AVui.  B.  INIaclay,  Hon. 
Horace  Greeley,  and  Hon.  Elijah  Ward.  In  this  club  ]\Ir.  Hoyne  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  present  eminence  as  an  attorney,  and  of  that  friend- 
ship with  Judge  Manierre  which  lasted  unbroken  until  the  death  of  the 
latter,  in  1863.     Mr.  Hoyne  not  alone  attended  the  meetings  of  the  club 


48  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

but  also  two  night  schools,  at  one  of  which  he  studied  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  at  the  other  English  Grammar  and  Elocution.  He  was  a  diligent 
reader  and  a  close  student,  and  consequently  he  made  rapid  progress  in 
his  studies,  although  he  could  snatch  but  a  small  fraction  of  his  time  to 
devote  to  study. 

In  1835,  Mr.  Hoyne's  apprenticeship  expired,  and  he  immediately 
obtained  a  situation  in  a  law  office,  but  his  means  were  limited  and  he 
was  compelled  to  look  again  for  active  business.  He  obtained  a  situation 
in  a  wholesale  grocery  house  at  $400  i>er  year,  which  gave  him  the  oppor- 
tunity of  continuing  his  studies  in  the  night  schools.  He  was  also  about 
this  time  fortunate  in  making  the  acipiaintance  of,  and  being  received  as 
a  boarder  with  the  family  of  Rev.  Archibald  Maclaj',  D.  D.,  the  leading 
divine  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  America  for  over  fifty  years.  He 
was  at  once  surrounded  by  an  intellectual  atmosphere  congenial  to  his 
tastes,  and  he  made  ra])id  progress  in  his  education.  In  183G,  he  entered 
the  office  of  Hon.  John  lirinkcrhoff,  an  old  resident  lawyer  of  New  York, 
as  a  law  student,  and  by  various  little  business  schemes  continued  to  add 
to  the  small  fund  which  he  was  laying  aside  as  tlie  foundation  of  his 
education. 

In  the  fall  of  1835,  Judge  Manierre  removed  to  Chicago.  An  active 
correspondence  was  kept  u]),  and  the  glowing  letters  of  young  INIanierre 
soon  induced  Mr.  Hoyne  to  emigrate  westward.  In  August,  1837,  after 
effecting  a  small  loan  among  his  literary  friends,  he  started  for  Chicago, 
journeying  ten  days  by  canal  to  Buffalo,  by  steamer  from  Buffido  to 
Detroit,  and  by  schooner  from  Detroit  to  Chicago.  The  whole  journey 
occupied  four  weeks,  a  period  of  time  now  more  than  enough  to  make  the 
voyage  to  Europe  and  back. 

Arrived  at  Chicago,  INIr.  Hoyne  found  his  friend  Manierre  at  the 
Circuit  Clerk's  office,  acting  as  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  Deputy  for  the 
late  Col.  R.  D.  Hamilton.  The  Clerk's  office  was  then  located  in  the 
only  public  building  in  the  city,  except  the  old  wooden  jail  standing  near  it. 
It  was  a  one-story  brick  structure  standing  on  the  corner  of  the  present 
Court  House  Square,  fronting  east  on  Clark  Street,  with  the  north  side 
running  along  Randolph.  Mr.  Hoyne  entered  this  building  on  the  11th 
day  of  September,  1837,  where  he  at  once  found  employment  as  an 
assistant  at  a  salary  of  ten  dollars  per  week. 

Rare  opportunities  were  afforded  him  for  becoming  familiar  with  the 
course  of  practice  under  the  laws  of  Illinois.     He  diligently  continued  his 


THOMAS    HOYNK.  49 

reading  and  study  of  law  authors,  while  ho  necessarily  observed  all  the 
practiced  forms  of  pleading.  His  methods  of  study  ^^•cre  so  well  system- 
atized that  he  kept  a  common-] )lac{!  book,  in  which  he  noted  all  decisions 
made  alfecting  the  construction  of  })articular  statutes,  as  well  as  any  modi- 
fications in  practice  of  old  common  law  rules,  as  applied  to  the  new 
conditions  of  modern  civilization. 

In  the  second  volume  of  Scammon's  Reports,  ]).  199,  will  be  found  an 
affidavit  made  by  Mr.  Hoyne  on  a  mandamus  case  against  the  late  Judge 
Pearson  on  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  which  presents  one  of  the 
court  scenes  of  those  days  between  the  late  Justice  Butterfield  and  the 
Judge,  during  which  Mr.  Hoyne  acted  as  the  Clerk  in  entering  a  fine  of 
twenty  dollars  against  Butterfield  for  contempt  of  court.  During  the 
next  two  years  he  joined  a  literary  club,  organized  by  Judge  Manierre, 
and  comprising  among  its  members  such  names  as  Stephen  F.  Gale,  Esq., 
Hon.  N.  B.  Judd,  Henry  L.  Rucker,  Esq.,  the  late  Dr.  Kennicott,  and 
others.  He  also  renewed  his  study  of  Latin  with  a  Prof.  Kendall,  then 
residing  in  Chicago,  and  with  Geo.  C.  Collins,  Esq.,  connected  with  the 
public  schools.  He  also  commenced  the  study  of  French  with  M.  de  St. 
Palais,  the  priest  of  St.  Mary's,  then  the  only  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
Chicago. 

In  the  autumn  of  1838,  Mr.  Hoyne,  being  found  qualified,  took 
charge  of  a  public  school  in  the  West  Division,  which,  however,  he 
resigned  after  teaching  four  months,  finding  that  it  engrossed  too  much 
of  his  time. 

Among  the  leaders  of  the  Chicago  bar  at  this  time  were  the  Hons. 
J.  Y.  Scammon,  Justin  Butterfield,  James  H.  Collins,  B.  S.  Morris,  the 
late  Judge  Spring,  I.  IS".  Arnold  and  Grant  Goodrich.  Mr.  Hoyne 
entered  J.  Y.  Scammon's  office  as  a  student,  and  completed  his  studies  in 
the  year  1839,  just  before  his  admission  to  practice,  which  took  i)lace 
during  the  same  year.  Although  Mr.  Hoyne  and  Mr.  Scammon  have 
scarcely  ever  agreed  from  that  day  to  this  on  great  public  questions,  with 
the  exception  of  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  late  civil  war,  he  has 
never  failed  to  express  his  sincere  obligations  to  Mr.  Scammon  for  his 
counsel  and  instructions,  and  never  fi)r  a  moment  have  their  personal 
relations  been  disturbed. 

In  1840,  the  Democratic  party,  to  which  Mr.  Hoyne  had  attached 
himself,  carried  the  municipal  election  by  choosing  Alexander  Lloyd 
Mayor,    and    a   majority    of   the    Aldermen.       Immediately   after    their 


50  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

installation,  Mr.  Hoyne  was  elected  City  Clerk,  being  the  third  Clerk 
appointed  since  the  organization  of  the  municipal  government.  The 
salary  of  the  office  was  then  $250  per  annum,  wivh  some  trifling  fees 
for  licenses,  but  the  Avork  was  very  light — occupying  only  three  or  four 
hours  in  a  week — all  the  records  of  the  city,  including  proceedings  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  tax  rolls,  with  the  public  documents,  being 
contained  in  a  small  office  desk.  It  is  a  fact,  perhaps,  worthy  of  remem- 
brance in  a  city  which  now  collects  a  general  revenue  tax  of  nearly  two 
million  dollars  annually,  that  the  whole  amount  of  the  tax  list  of  Chicago 
in  1840  was  only  about  seven  thousand  dollars. 

During  this  year  an  incident  took  place  in  the  city  which  is  worthy 
of  note  in  the  history  of  tlie  State.  It  is  generally  known  that  the  settle- 
ment of  Illinois  commenced  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  and  that 
in  1838,  when  Judge  Douglas  made  his  first  canvass  for  Congress,  Chicago 
was  in  the  Springfield  district.  The  population  was  mostly  composed  of 
settlers  from  the  Southern  States,  The  Governor  and  public  men  paid 
little  attention  to  the  New  England  custom  of  Thanksgiving,  but  the 
people  of  Chicago,  having  come  from  the  East,  as  the  usual  season 
approached  began  to  think  of  Thanksgiving  dinner,  and  as  Gov.  Carlin 
had  made  no  appointment,  they  determined  to  make  a  thanksgiving  for 
the  State.  Accordingly,  at  a  meeting  held  November  18,  1840,  Alderman 
Julius  Wadsworth  offered  an  appropriate  resolution  to  that  effect,  and  the 
first  thanksgiving  proclamation  ever  issued  in  the  State  was  drawn  up  by 
Mr.  Hoyne  and  issued  at  Chicago,  appointing  December  3,  1840,  as  a 
day  of  public  thanksgiving. 

During  the  year  1841,  while  Congress  was  in  session,  an  effort  was 
made  by  the  people  and  corporate  authorities  of  the  city  to  induce  Con- 
gress to  make  more  liberal  appropriations  for  the  improvement  of  the 
Chicago  harbor.  Mr.  Hoyne  was  requested  to  collect  the  facts  and  draw 
up  a  memorial, — a  work  whicli  he  did  faithfully,  and  with  an  elaborate 
yet  concise  statement  of  facts. 

It  was  Avhile  Mr.  Hoyne  was  acting  as  City  Clerk,  on  September  17, 
1840,  that  he  married  the  daughter  of  Dr.  John  T.  Temple,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Chicago.  Arriving  here  in  1833,  he  established,  by  authority 
of  the  celebrated  Amos  Kendall,  the  first  line  of  coaches  which  carried  the 
mail  from  Chicago  to  the  Illinois  River.  At  this  time,  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Hoyne  was  but  eight  years  of  age.  She  is  now  the  mother  of  seven 
children;  the  oldest,  a  boy,  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  the 


THOMAS    IIOYNE.  51 

second  is  a  law  partner  in  the  law  firm  of  his  lather,  and  a  tlurd  is  engaged 
iLS  a  clerk  in  a  wholesale  grocery  house. 

In  the  autumn  of  1842,  j\Ir.  Hoyne  removed  to  Gralena,  where  he 
rcsitlcd  two  years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time,  he  returned  to  Chicago. 
W  liilc  in  Galena,  one  of  the  public  questions  agitated  among  the  people 
of  Illinois  and  AVisconsin  was  the  claim  which  the  latter  laid  to  all  the 
territory  north  of  a  line  drawn  east  and  west  through  the  southern  bend 
of  Lake  Michigan,  which  would  include  about  twelve  thousand  square 
miles  of  territory,  now  lying  within  the  borders  of  Illinois.  Upon  this 
question,  Mr.  Hoyne  published  a  series  of  articles,  over  the  signature  of 
"  Ulpian,"  in  the  "  Galena  Sentinel,"  bearing  the  title  of  "  Disputed 
Territory."     They  attracted  much  attention  at  the  time. 

Mr.  Hoyne  returned  to  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Chicago,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1844.  In  August,  1847,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Probate 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  under  the  old  Constitution,  the  office  now  known  as 
County  Judge.  This  office  he  held  until  the  new  Constitution  went  into 
effect  and  suspended  the  court,  in  the  autumn  of  1848.  His  practice 
increasing,  he  now  began  that  active  career  of  professional  life  in  which  he 
has  since  become  eminent.  In  the  year  1847,  after  he  had  been  elected 
Probate  Justice,  he  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Hon.  Mark  Skinner, 
with  whom  he  continued  until  the  election  of  Mr.  Skinner  as  a  Judge  of 
the  Common  Pleas  Court,  in  1851.  He  also  became  known  in  matters 
of  general  public  interest.  Being  a  strong  adherent  of  the  Democratic 
party,  he  began  to  take  a  leading  part  in  its  organization  and  movements. 
In  1847,  during  the  Mexican  war,  at  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  Court 
House  Square,  he  reported  resolutions  calling  for  a  vigoroas  prosecution 
of  the  war.  In  1848,  after  the  passage  in  Congress  of  the  famous 
Wilmot  Proviso,  a  large  meeting  of  the  Democracy  was  called  at  Chicago 
for  the  purpose  of  indorsing  the  war.  Mr.  Hoyne,  after  this  meeting, 
may  be  said  to  have  really  opened  a  regular  political  campaign  in  the 
State  for  the  advocacy  of  Free  Soil  principles. 

On  the  4th  of  April  following,  another  immense  Democratic  meeting 
was  held  in  favor  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  over  which  Hon.  James  II. 
Woodworth,  the  Mayor,  presided.  A  committee  was  appointed  at  this 
meeting  to  issue  an  address  to  the  Democracy  of  the  State,  the  membei*s 
of  which  were  Thomas  Hoyne,  chairman,  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  Mark  Skinner,  George  Manierre,  E.  S.  Kimberley,  and  Asa  F. 
Bradley.     The  address  was  prepared  and  written  by  IMr.  Hoyne,  and 


52  BIOGEAPIIICALJSKETCHES. 

circulated  tlirouglioiit  the  State.  It  deprecated  meddling  with  slavery 
where  it  existed,  but  was  unalterably  opposed  to  its  further  extension. 
It  set  forth  that  the  Democracy  of  Cook  County  did  not  make  war 
upon  the  South,  or  her  institutions;  tliat  they  did  not  intend  to  abolish 
slavery  where  it  existed,  but  did  intend  to  prevent  the  abolition  of  freedom 
in  territory  then  free.  This  Avas  the  key  note  of  the  document,  and  it  was 
sounded  in  no  uncertain  manner.  It  was  a  bold,  manly,  vigorous  protest 
against  the  further  extension  of  slavery,  and  is  especially  worthy  of  note 
as  the  first  regular  manifesto  ever  issued  in  the  Free  Soil  campaign  of 
1848,  in  which  Mr.  Hoyne  acted.  Being  called  as  a  Democratic  meeting, 
it  was  designed  by  Mr.  Hoyne  to  affect  the  opinion  of  the  Democratic 
masses  of  the  State;  and  the  address  itself  was  intended  to  influence  the 
creed  which  was  to  go  into  the  platforms  of  the  conventions  aud  elections 
of  that  year.  That  it  had  the  effect  designed,  w^as  afterwards  proven  by 
the  movements  of  the  people,  which  soon  followed. 

In  the  Democratic  Congressional  Convention  of  the  Chicago  District, 
which  ISIr.  AVentworth  re]>resented,  lield  at  Ottawa,  to  which  Cook  county 
sent  Mr.  Hoyne  at  the  head  of  fourteen  delegates,  the  struggle  arose  u])on 
the  Wilmot  Proviso  and  the  address.  Mr.  Wentworth  was  nominated  by 
a  clear  majority,  but  the  Committee  on  Eesolutions  could  not  unite  U]X)n  a 
report,  and  llie  session  of  the  Convention  was  prolonged  luitil  after 
midnight,  when  Mr.  Hoyne,  finding  that  no  agreement  could  be  reached 
upon  his  Free  Soil  platform,  proposed  that  the  committee  should  report 
"  that  it  was  deemed  inexpedient  for  tlie  Convention  to  adopt  a  declaration 
of  principles,"  This  they  did,  and  it  was  carried,  but  only  after  a 
most  violent  debate  and  bitter  opposition  of  the  anti-Wentworth  wing  of 
the  Convention. 

That  year,  the  Baltimore  Democratic  Convention  nominated  Hon. 
Lewis  Cass  for  the  Presidency,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  Free  Soil  wing 
of  the  Democratic  party.  On  the  4th  of  July,  a  large  mass  meeting  of 
Democrats  was  held  at  the  Court  House  in  Chicago,  at  which  Mr.  Hoyne 
made  a  powerful  speech,  vigorously  opposing  the  nomination.  Before 
this,  however,  the  innnerous  friends  of  Free  Soil  in  New  York,  at  the 
Utica  Convention,  liad  named  Martin  Van  Buren  for  the  Presidency,  and 
while  they  were  in  session  a  telegram  was  sent  to  them,  signed  by 
James  H.  Woodworth,  Mayor,  I.  N.  Arnold,  and  Thomas  Hoyne,  fully 
endorsing  the  candidate,  and  suggesting  a  National  Mass  Convention.  In 
accordance  with  this  suggestion,  such  a  Convention  was  called  to  meet  at 


TJIOMAS    IIOYNE.  5:} 

Buffalo  on  the  22cl  of  August.  This  Convention  noniinatcd  Martin  Van 
Buren  for  the  Pirsidoncy,  and  Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams  for  the  Viee- 
I'resideney.  These  nominations  \vere  ratified  at  a  mass  meeting  in  Chicago, 
August  28,  in  which  Mr.  Hoyne  took  an  active  part.  The  next  Convention 
of  the  Free  Soil  Democracy  was  held  at  Ottawa,  k5epti'ml)er  30,  at  which 
an  electoral  ticket  wius  put  in  nomination,  as  follows:  Cook  County,  A\'m. 
B.  Ogden,  Thomas  Hoyne;  Kane,  Levi  F.  Torrey;  Madison,  John  W. 
Butl'um;  Fulton,  Henry  B.  Evans;  Sangamon,  Lewis  J.  Kealing;  La 
Salle,  A.  Hoes;  Knox,  Jonathan  Blanchard;  Peoria,  George  B.  Arnold. 
Mr.  Hoyne  made  a  very  thorough  canvass  through  the  northern  part  of 
Illinois,  and  addressed  several  large  meetings.  The  election  resulted  in 
the  success  of  the  Whig  candidate  and  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Cass.  The  cause 
for  which  Mr.  Hoyne  had  contended  met  with  signal  success  in  Chicago, 
Van  Buren  receiving  260  votes  over  Taylor,  and  527  over  Cass,  on  a  total 
vote  of  3,840. 

The  last  time  in  the  progress  of  this  movement,  to  which  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  Democratic  party  had  committed  itself,  when  Mr.  Hoyne 
appears  acting  in  apparent  opposition,  was  at  a  public  meeting  held  in  the 
South  IMarket  Hall,  in  February,  1850,  to  protest  against  the  new  attempt 
making  in  Congress  to  secure,  by  compromise,  some  of  the  new  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico  for  the  exclusive  settlement  of  tlie  slaveholders.  Of 
this  meeting  the  "Chicago  Tribune"  said:  "The  meeting  last  night  was 
"a  great  success.  Tariffs,  said  Mr.  Hoyne,  can  be  made  and  unmade. 
"  Banks  can  be  chartered  and  their  charters  repealed ;  l)ut  the  extension 
"of  slavery,  once  granted,  takes  forever  from  the  peoi)k'  of  the  States  the 
"constitutional  power  of  revoking  it.  By  all  that  wc;  hold  sacred!  By 
"the  very  genius  of  Republican  liberty!  By  the  luunanitary  tendencies 
"of  the  nineteenth  century!  By  our  love  of  the  glory  of  our  model 
"  llcpu])lic,  we  must  not  let  the  present  crisis  pass  without  consecrating 
"  forever  to  freedom  the  territory  over  wliich  the  Government  has  so 
"  recently  extended  its  laws  and  institutions.  America  nuist  not  appear 
"worse  than  Mexico  in  keeping  for  freedom  the  soil  and  territory  she 
"  ol)tained  free." 

The  compromise  metusures  of  1850  were  afterwards  passt'd,  and  Mr. 
Hoyne,  in  common  with  thousands  of  other  Free  Soil  Democrats,  accepted 
tliem;  but  he  did  not  relin(piish  his  peculiar  political  tenets  as  to  the 
extension  of  slavery  in  tlie  Territories.  On  the  contrary,  in  th(!  autunni  of 
1850,  when  a  successor  came  to  be  nominated  a.s  a  Congressman  to  succeed 


64  BIOGEAPIIICAL,   SKETCHES. 

Mr.  Went\vortl),  Dr.  R.  S.  Moloiiy  was  selected  in  the  Joliet  Convention, 
entirel}'  through  Mr.  Hoyne's  elibrts. 

But  Mr.  Hoyne  did  not  contine  liis  attention  altogether  to  political 
matters.  In  1850,  at  the  annual  election  of  officers,  he  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  Young  Men's  Association.  He  Avas  the  only  President  of  that 
institution  who  was  elected  for  a  second  term.  Under  his  administration, 
the  organization  received  an  impulse  which  carried  it  far  towards  its 
present  prominent  jiosition.  Among  the  series  of  lectui-es  delivered  before 
the  Association  was  one  by  Mr.  Hoyne,  on  the  subject  of  "  Trial  by  Jury." 
In  1849,  at  the  Festival  of  St.  Patrick,  he  delivered  a  speech  in  response 
to  the  toast  "■  The  State  of  Illinois."  On  December  5,  1849,  he  organized 
a  meeting  for  the  relief  of  German  refugees,  and  December  8,  1851,  he 
delivered  the  welcoming  speech  at  the  reception  of  Dr.  Kenkel,  the 
c!ompati'iot  of  Kossuth. 

The  election  of  Pierce,  as  President,  reunited  the  Democracy,  and, 
through  tlic  influence  of  Mr.  AVcntworth,  Mr.  Hoyne  received  the 
appointment  of  United  States  District  Attorney  for  tlie  District  of 
Illinois,  which  then  embraced  the  whole  State.  This  appointment 
made  Mr.  Hoyne  the  target  for  the  most  bitter  and  ferocious  personal 
hostility. 

AYith  this  appointment,  Mr.  Hoyne's  business  rapidly  increased,  and 
his  reputation  spread  with  ('(pial  pace.  The  State  was  then  included  in 
one  judicial  district,  and  the  court  sat  at  Springfield.  Here  he  was 
brought  into  contact  with  the  best  legal  talent  of  Illinois,  and  in  his  first 
cause — the  prosecution  of  a  mail  robber — the  late  President  Lincoln  con- 
ducted the  defense.  ^Nlr.  Hoyne  gained  the  cause  and  fixed  his  reputation 
at  the  Springfield  I)ar.  During  his  administration,  both  as  United  States 
Attorney,  and  later  as  United  States  Marshal,  not  a  single  prosecution  or 
an  arrest  imder  the  fugitive  slave  law  occurred. 

In  1854,  ]\Ir.  Douglas  introduced  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bills,  which 
kindled  anew  the  fires  of  anti-slavery  agitation,  and,  in  Chicago,  led  to 
bitter  partisan  feelings,  which  manifested  themselves  in  the  shape  of  a 
mob  at  tlie  famous  North  Market  Hall  meeting,  upon  the  occasion  of  a 
speech  by  Mr.  Douglas  opposing  himself  to  the  almost  universally  popular 
sentiment,  and,  acting  from  his  convictions  of  right,  Mr.  Hoyne  sided  with 
Mr.  Douglas,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  accompanied  him  through  the 
State,  speaking  in  defense  of  his  policy.  In  the  Presidential  canvass  of 
1856,  Mr.  Douglas  again  canvassed  Illinois,  and  IMr.  Hoyne,  by  order  of 


THOMAS    HOYNE.  55 

the  State  Democratic  Central  Committee,  canvassed  the  northern  portion 
of  the  State.  Mr.  Buchanan  Avas  elected,  and  in  the  following  March,  Mr. 
Hoyne,  feeling  that  unless  he  entered  upon  a  personal  straggle  for  his 
office  some  rival  candidate  would  succeed,  withdrew  his  claim  to  re-appoint- 
ment. In  1858,  Mr.  Buchanan  recommended  the  admission  of  Kansas 
under  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  Mr.  Douglas  opposed  the  President. 
Mr.  Hoyne,  finding  that  no  reconciliation  was  possible,  took  the  side  of 
the  President,  and  in  Mr.  Douglas'  canvass  for  re-election  he  joined  the 
ranks  of  the  minority.  The  contest  was  very  bitter,  and,  among  others, 
Mr.  Hoyne  came  in  for  his  share  of  abuse.  Ingratitude  was  charged 
against  him  for  deserting  Mr.  Douglas,  as  it  was  supposed  he  owed  his 
office  to  the  latter,  when  in  fact  he  was  exclusively  indebted  to  Mr. 
Wentworth  for  his  attorneyship. 

In  1859,  the  United  States  Marshal,  Charles  A.  Pine,  ai:)pointed  by 
Mr.  Buchanan  for  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  became  a  defaulter. 
After  Judge  Breese's  declination  of  the  appointment,  it  was  tendered  to 
Mr.  Hoyne,  who  ^vas  one  of  the  sureties  on  Mr.  Pine's  bond.  His 
co-sureties  insisted  upon  his  acceptance  for  their  own  protection,  and  Judge 
Drummond  requested  it,  owing  to  the  then  confused  condition  of  the 
Marshal's  office.  He  finally  accepted,  and  in  April,  1859,  entered  upon 
the  duties.  In  1860,  he  superintended  the  United  States  Census  for  the 
Northern  District,  and  was  complimented  by  Hon.  J.  P.  Kennedy,  the 
National  Superintendent  of  the  Census  Bureau,  ^vho  reported  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  that  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois  was  the 
only  one  in  which  the  returns  were  so  complete  that  it  Avas  unnecessary  to 
send  them  back  for  correction. 

This  was  the  last  political  office  held  by  ISIr.  Hoyne,  but  his  labors  in 
the  public  behalf  do  not  end  here.  In  1856,  the  Baptist  denomination 
accepted  Mr.  Douglas'  munificent  offer  of  ten  acres  at  Cottage  Grove  to  be 
devoted  to  University  purposes.  Dr.  Burroughs,  in  behalf  of  the  denom- 
ination, entered  upon  what  seemed  to  be  a  herculean  task.  According  to 
the  contract,  a  University  must  be  built  in  a  specified  time,  to  cost  not  less 
than  $100,000.  Subscriptions  were  very  generous.  A  Board  of  Trustees 
was  organized,  and  Judge  Douglas  was  elected  first  President.  On  the  4th 
of  July,  1857,  the  corner-stone  was  laid,  at  which  time  Mr.  Hoyne  was 
one  of  the  speakers.  He  was  elected  one  of  the  first  Board  of  Trustees, 
upon  which  he  has  continued  to  serve.  Mr.  Hoyne  further  showed  liis 
practical  interest  in  the  University  by  endowing  a  professorship  of  law. 


56  BIOGnAPlIICAL.   SKF/n  IIES. 

subscribing  and  paving  five  thousand  dollars  for  that  purpose.  As  the 
chairman  of  a  committee  for  that  object,  Mr.  Hoyne  gave  his  active 
personal  efforts  towards  the  founding  of  the  law  school,  now  so  ably  con- 
ducted by  Professor  Booth.  He  Avas  thoroughly  successful.  The  school 
was  formally  opened  September  21,  1859,  and  placed  under  the  charge  of 
a  Board  of  Counselors,  including  such  names  as  Judge  Drummond,  E.  B. 
McCagg,  Esq.,  Judge  Scates,  Hon.  INIark  Skinner  and  others,  of  which 
^Ir.  Jlovne  was  made  chairman.  The  Board  of  Trustees,  appreciating  the 
services  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  properly  acknowledged  his  endowment  by  estab- 
lishing a  chair  in  the  faculty  known  as  "The  Hoyne  Professorship  of 
Internati(?nal  and  Constitutional  Law."  At  the  annual  commencement 
in  1802,  the  University  further  honored  him  by  conferring  upon  him 
the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D. 

Mr.  Hoyne  rendered  another  memorable  service  to  the  University  in 
securing  the  great  Lalande  prize  telescope  of  Alvan  Clark.  Hon.  J.  Y. 
Scammon's  munificent  offer  of  the  building  stimulatetl  subscriptions  for 
the  01)servat(uy,  Avhile  the  practical  judgment  and  indefatigable  efforts  of 
Mr.  Hoyne  seeure<l  for  Chicago  the  greatest  scientific  instrument  of  the 
age.  This  glass,  as  is  well  known,  was  made  by  contract  Avith  Alvan 
Clark,  of  Cambridge,  Ma.ssaehusetts,  for  a  Mississippi  College,  but  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  left  it  upon  his  hands.  ]Mr.  Ployne  went  to  Boston 
with  full  power  to  secure  a  proper  instrument,  two  only  then  being  con- 
sidered, the  glass  of  jNIr.  Fitz,  at  New  York,  and  Mr.  Clark's.  The 
committee,  not  being  properly  advise<l  of  the  merits  of  either,  committed 
entire  discretion  over  the  Avliole  subject  to  ^Ir.  Hoyne.  Harvard  Univer- 
sity was  already  negotiating  for  Mr.  Clark's  glass,  but  the  savans  of 
Boston  were  slow  in  their  subscriptions.  Before  IMr.  Hoyne  arrived  at 
Boston,  however,  Cambridge  had  learned  of  the  Chicago  movement,  and 
had  a  sufficient  sum  guaranteed  for  the  purchase.  The  very  day  that  ^Ir. 
Hoyne  arrived,  ]Mr.  Clark  was  to  meet  the  Cambridge  committee.  With 
genuine  Western  spirit,  Mr.  Hoyne  determined  to  make  the  first  offer. 
Only  two  hours  before  the  time  of  appointment,  Mr.  Hoyne  found  Mr. 
Clark,  offered  him  his  price  and  secured  the  splendid  instrument  for 
Chicago.  Two  hours  later,  the  great  telescope  which  has  already  discov- 
ered the  companion  star  of  Sirius,  the  new  nebuljB  in  Orion,  and  many  of 
the  double  stars,  would  have  belonged  to  Cambridge.  The  equatorial 
mounting  was  also  secured  from  the  same  makers,  and  the  glass  was  put 
up  in  May,  1866.    As  a  compliment  to  Mr.  Hoyne's  enterprise  in  securing 


TIIO:\rAS    ITOYNK. 


57 


the  instrument,  he  was  elected  first  Secretary  of  the  Chieao;^  Astronomical 
Society,  a  j)osition  which  he  still  holds,  and  a  series  of  resolutions  passed 
thanking-  him  for  the  same. 

Among  other  positions  whicli  Mr.  Hoyne  holds,  it  may  be  well  to 
mention  here  that  he  is  a  lite  member  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society, 
and  also  a  life  member  of  tlie  Mechanics'  Institute  of  Chicago. 

During  the  war  Mr.  Hoyne  pursued  no  uncertain  course.  He  labored 
hard  to  avert  Avar,  and  cautioned  many  of  the  Southern  leaders,  among 
them  John  Slidell  and  Howell  Cobb,  with  whom  he  was  intimate,  against 
the  dangers  they  were  incurring.  When  he  saw  that  all  remonstrance  was 
iLseless,  he  gave  his  whole  energies  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  At 
the  iirst  great  war  meeting  in  Chicago,  he  was  placed  upon  the  Uni(jn 
Defence  Committee.  He  subscribed  a  generous  sum  towards  the  enrolment 
and  equipment  of  troops,  and  drew  up  the  well  known  appeal  from  the 
Union  Defence  Committee  to  the  people  of  Illinois.  He  addressed  the 
immense  mass  meeting  held  in  the  Court  House  Square,  in  July,  1862. 
Throughout  the  entire  war,  he  rose  aljove  all  partisan  preferences,  and, 
more  than  this,  never  encouraged  party  organizations.  He  occupied  the 
memorable  position  of  a  War  Democrat,  and  as  such  was  bitterly 
denounced  by  the  ultra  partisan  Democrats.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
speakers  solicited  to  address  the  great  mass  meeting  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  fall  of  Richmond,  and  was  one  of  the  committee  of  escort  from 
Illinois,  appointed  by  the  Common  Council  of  Chicago,  to  accompany  the 
remains  of  the  lamented  Lincoln  from  Washington  to  their  final  resting 
place. 

After  the  war,  he  thoroughly  indorsed  the  positions  assumed  by  Presi- 
dent Johnson  in  his  conflict  with  Congress,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Philadelphia  Conservative  Convention,  in  August,  1866.  He  served  upon 
the  Committee  on  Credentials  in  that  Convention. 

In  1866,  Mr.  Hoyne,  at  the  head  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
Douglas  Monument  Association,  went  to  Washington,  and  succeeded  in 
inducing  President  Johnson  and  Secretaries  Seward,  Welles  and  others  to 
be  present  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  that  memorial.  He  also 
prepared  and  issued  a  circular  to  the  people  of  the  nation,  urging  upon 
them  the  claims  of  the  Association. 

This  being  the  last  public  appearance  of  Mr.  Hoyne,  we  must  draw 
our  sketch  to  a  close  with  a  brief  notice  of  him  as  a  man,  jirofessionally 
and  socially.     As  a  laAvyer,  he  has  been  remarkably  successful.     As  an 


58  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

advocate  of  young  Francis  Busli,  some  eight  years  since,  in  defending 
him  for  the  murder  of  McCarty,  he  will  long  be  remembered.  In  the 
celebrated  Judd-Wentworth  libel  cases,  he  displayed  signal  ability,  and 
was  sustained  in  his  points  of  demurrer  by  the  Supreme  Court.  He 
was  also  actively  engaged  in  the  Burch  divorce  case,  in  which  he  made 
a  strong  appeal  to  the  jury,  and  was  retained  to  defeat  the  famous 
"Wabash  Swindle,"  so  called. 

As  a  man,  Mr.  Hoyne  is  of  a  very  impulsive  nature,  quick  and 
passionate  in  spirit,  but  never  cherishing  resentment  or  harboring  ill-will 
ao-ainst  any  person.  Strictly  honorable  in  all  his  relations  with  men,  he 
is  a  foe  to  all  pretenders  and  quacks,  to  shams  of  every  description, 
whether  in  the  law  or  out  of  it.  He  is  a  sworn  foe  to  political  dema- 
gogueism,  and  for  that  reason,  although  ambitious,  prefers  to  remain  even 
in  obscurity,  to  ]iaying  the  price  of  servility  required  by  the  partisans 
who  control  nominating  conventions.  His  attachments  are  very  strong, 
and  his  friendships  warm.  Physically,  he  is  of  medium  height,  well 
proportioned  and  strongly  knit  together;  his  complexion  is  rather  dark, 
with  black  eyes  and  hair;  his  face  is  one  of  those  strongly  marked  and 
clearly  open  ones,  which  at  once  give  you  an  index  to  the  inner  man. 


¥ILLIAM  JONES. 


William  Jones,  one  of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  oldest,  of  the  old  settlers 
of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Charlemont,  Franklin  County,  Massachusetts, 
on  the  22d  of  October,  1789.  When  he  was  nine  years  of  age,  his  parents 
moved  to  the  town  of  Greenfield,  Saratoga  County,  New  York.  There 
the  father  died,  when  William  had  reached  his  fourteenth  year.  At 
nineteen,  he  undertook  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  millwright,  but  it  was  not 
to  his  liking.  He  soon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  no  mechanical 
turn  of  mind,  and  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  further  west.  He  walked 
to  Hanover,  Chautauqua  County,  New  York,  purchased  a  piece  of  new 
land,  cleared  a  few  acres,  and  went  energetically  to  the  tilling  of  the  soil 
for  a  livelihood.  This  he  continued  for  five  years,  when  his  health  began 
to  fail  him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  farm. 

AVhile  in  Chautauqua  County,  he  was  made  Constable,  Collector  and 
Deputy  SheriflT,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Gregory.  He  removed  to 
Buffalo  in  1824,  and  there  tried  the  grocery  business,  but  not  proving 
successful,  he  accepted  an  appointment  as  lighthouse  keeper  at  the 
mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek.  Here  he  remained  until  Buffalo  was  incor- 
porated as  a  city,  when  he  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  police,  by 
Dr.  Ebenezer  Johnson,  the  first  Mayor.  Mr.  Jones  was  also  the  first 
Collector  of  Buffalo,  and  served  in  that  office  for  tliree  years.  His  health 
at  this  time  being  to  all  appearances  restored,  he  again  turned  his  face  and 
bent  his  steps  to  the  westward,  with  the  deternu'nation  to  follow  the 
"course  of  empire,"  and  do  what  his  hands  should  find  to  do  in  the 
way  of  making  a  living  or  a  fortune,  as  the  case  might  be. 

In  the  summer  of  1831,  he  went  by  steamboat  to  Detroit,  from  thence 
to  Ann  Arbor  by  stage,  and  to  Kalamazoo  by  wagon.      There,  with  a 


60  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

small  party,  he  took  skiflP  for  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  whieh  was 
reaehed  after  severe  hardships,  endured  with  good  pluck  and  high  spirits. 
From  there  the  i)arty  proceeded  by  borrowed  conveyance  to  Elkhart, 
and  thence,  in  company  with  a  friend,  ^Mr.  Jones  went  to  Chicago  on 
horseback,  arriving  on  the  1st  of  August,  1831. 

Tiie  embryo  metropolis  of  tlie  Northwest  consisted,  at  that  time,  of  a 
few  small  shanties  scattered  round  about  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River, 
and  inhabited  by  Frenchmen,  Indians  and  half-breeds,  to  the  number  of 
about  three  hundred.     Fort  Dearborn  was  deserted. 

Mr.  Jones'  traveling  companion  falling  sick,  he  was  obliged  to  return 
with  him  to  Elkhart;  but  in  February,  1832,  he  was  again  in  Cliicago, 
having  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  destined  to  be  a  great  city.  So 
deeply  impressed  was  he  with  this  idea,  that  he  immediately  purchased 
two  lots,  eighty  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  each,  for  which  he  paid  two 
hundred  dollars.  These  lots  are  situated  on  I^ake  and  South  Water, 
midway  between  Dearborn  and  Clark  streets.  Not  caring  to  settle  per- 
manently in  the  midst  of  the  swamp,  he  returned  to  Bulfalo,  where  he 
lived  until  the  spring  of  183-1,  when  he  again  visited  Chicago,  built  a 
store,  and,  in  1835,  went  into  business  here,  continuing  to  invest  in  real 
estate  to  the  full  extent  of  his  ability.  Vmt  in  1836  came  the  '' bursting 
of  the  bubble,"  and  Mr.  Jones  shared  in  the  general  financial  disaster. 
Through  sagacity  and  persistency,  however,  he  was  soon  again  in  pros- 
perous and  promising  circumstances.  As  the  town  grew  in  size,  Mr.  Jones 
increased  in  wealth.  He  met  witli  vicissitudes,  but  his  energy  and 
bravery  prevented  him  being  overcome  by  them.  He  persevered  through 
all  obstacles,  not  the  least  vexatious  of  which  was  a  series  of  lawsuits  (all 
of  \yhich  he  gained),  and  in  a  few  years  was  firm  and  safe  upon  a  financial 
rock.  He  was  one  of  the  first  Justices  of  the  Peace  of  the  city,  serving 
in  tliat  capacity  with  noticeable  efficiency  f  >r  several  years,  and  was  after- 
wards a  member  of  the  Common  Council  from  the  Third  Ward  for  two 
years.  In  the  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  which  he  has  filled, 
his  conduct  has  always  been  guided  by  a  scrupulous  regard  for  his  own 
honor  and  the  public  interests. 

Mr.  Jones  was  the  first  to  come  to  Chicago  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
investing  in  real  estate,  and  may,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
founders  of  this  far-famed  metropolis.  He  came  nearly  a  thousand  mik's 
through  the  woods  and  over  the  Lakes  to  purchase  land  at  this  village  of 
fur  traders,  M'hom  he  startled  and  amused  l)y  telling  them  that  this  would, 
in  twenty-five  years,  become  a  city  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants. 


WILLIAM    JOXiy;.  61 

He  not  only  invested  his  own  money,  but  was  the  means  of  getting 
that  of  his  friends  invested  in  Chicago  town  h)ts.  J  lis  invariable  advice 
to  his  friends  was,  "Bny  lots  in  Chicago  and  hold  on  to  them." 

At  a  public  dinner  in  Buffalo,  Mr.  Jones  was  twitted  as  a  visionary, 
for  leaving  an  established  for  a  mythical  town,  when  he  replied  that 
Chicago  would,  in  twenty-five  years,  exceed  Buffalo  in  population.  He 
was  greeted  with  derisive  laughter. 

In  1834,  he  went  into  the  hardware  business,  in  partnership  with 
Byram  King,  the  name  of  the  firm  being  Jones,  King  &  Co. 

In  the  second  canvass  for  Mayor,  INIr.  Joues  was  the  Democratic 
candidate,  but  his  firm  and  bold  pt)sition  in  favor  of  temperance  and 
against  the  unrestricted  commerce  in  alcoholic  liquors  cost  him  the  votes 
of  the  lower  classes,  and  he  was  defeated.  In  this,  as  in  every  similar 
emergency,  he  was  faithful  to  his  convictions  and  immovable  in  his  main- 
tenance of  them.  If  he  had  been  less  candid  he  would  have  been  more 
politic;  but  he  preferred  to  go  without  official  position  rather  than  secure 
it  through  artifice  and  chicanery. 

Mr.  Jones  has  always  been  first  among  the  citizens  of  Chicago  to 
discover,  with  sagacious  forecast,  what  was  necessary  not  only  to  the 
material,  but  as  well  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  development  of  the 
city.  To  him  the  city  is  largely  indebted  for  the  warehouses  and  other 
buildings  he  has  erected  on  its  principal  thoroughfiires.  They  are,  like 
their  projector,  more  substantial  than  showy.  They  contribute  as  much 
to  the  service  of  our  commerce  as  to  the  ornamentation  of  our  streets.  He 
was  one  of  the  founders  and  most  liberal  original  contributors  to  the 
Chicago  Orphan  Asylum,  and  for  a  number  of  )ears  in  succession  was 
President  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 

He  has  always  shown  a  lively  interest  in  the  public  scliools  of  this 
city,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  Hon.  J.  Young  Seammon  and  the  late 
William  H.  Brown,  Esq.,  did  much  of  the  pioneer  work  of  this  inesti- 
mable branch  of  public  enterprise.  For  eleven  years  he  was  Chairman 
of  the  Board  of  School  Inspectors.  He  contributed  one  thousand  dollars 
towards  a  fund  for  the  furnishing  of  books,  etc.,  for  the  public  school 
which  bears  bis  name. 

But  the  public  enterprise  in  whi'-h  he  has  taken  the  deejx'st  interest, 
which  has  shared  most  largely  in  his  numificence,  and  f'or  his  part  in  the 
founding  of  which  he  will  be  longest  and  most  widely  rememl)ered,  is  tiie 
University  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Jones  was  one  of  the  first  to  appreciate  tiie 
splendid  opportunity  presented  by  this  great  centre  of  population,  wealth 


62  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

and  influence  for  a  university  to  be  identified,  in  name  and  interest,  with 
the  city.  He  has  been  from  the  first  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
and  most  of  the  time  President  of  the  Executive  Board,  and  has  shared 
largely  in  devising  and  executing  the  plans  wliich,  in  the  ten  years  of  its 
history,  have  raised  this  University  to  recognition  as  one  of  the  most 
attractive  and  influential  among  American  seats  of  learning.  In  consid- 
eration of  his  munificence  to  the  University,  the  Board  of  Trustees  at 
their  last  annual  meeting  passed,  the  following  resolutions : 

"Whebeas,  William  Jones,  Esq.,  has  recently  made  a  subscription  to  the  University 
of  ten  thousand  dollars,  which,  together  with  amounts  before  given,  makes  an  aggregate 
of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  a  close  approximation  to  the  entire  cost  of  the  south  wing 
of  the  University  buildings  ;   and 

"  Whereas,  In  the  erection  of  that  building,  as  in  all  the  arduous  work  of  carrying 
the  Universily  through  its  earlier  struggles  to  its  present  prosperous  condition,  this 
Board  gratefully  recognizes  its  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Jones  in  contributing  to  its  funds  as 
well  as  in  tendering  to  it  his  financial  credit,  his  time  and  business  abilities;  therefore, 

•'Resolved,  That  as  an  expression  of  the  honor  and  gratitude  in  which  the  name 
of  Mr.  Jones  should  ever  be  held  by  the  Universily  of  Chicago,  the  south  wing  of  the 
University  buildings  shall  forever  be  known  as  'Jones  Hall,'  and  that  a  tablet  with  a 
suitable  inscription  be  placed  in  the  vestibule." 

Mr.  Jones  is  a  man  who  lias  seen  affliction.  Two  of  liis  ten  children 
died  in  infancy,  and  five  othei-s  pai^sed  away  under  the  blighting  touch  of 
consumption,  just  as  they  had  reached  maturity.  His  wife,  one  of  the 
most  faithful  and  affectionate  of  wives,  died  on  the  15tli  of  February, 
1854,  lamented  not  only  by  him  of  whose  career  she  had  been  the  faithful 
and  beloved  partner  through  so  many  eventful  years,  but  by  a  large 
circle  who  had  known  and  loved  her  amiable  and  exemplary  character. 
For  the  last  five  years  he  himself  has  suffered  extreme  prostration  of 
health,  and  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-eight,  with  a  mind  still  unclouded 
and  will  unsubdued,  he  is  looking  expectantly  and  not  despairingly 
towards  sunset. 

From  this  imperfect  sketch  of  his  career,  the  reader  will  readily  infer 
the  leading  characteristics  of  our  subject.  He  is  a  man  of  irrepressible 
perseverance.  His  life  has  been  one  long  battle  with  obstacles  and  di.sad- 
vantages,  but,  thanks  to  a  vigorous  understanding  and  sturdy  Avill,  of 
victories  also.  He  is  a  man  more  given  to  deeds  than  Avords.  He  says 
little  and  does  much.  As  the  record  of  his  benefactions  shows,  he  is  no 
more  fond  of  accumulating  wealth  than  he  is  of  dispensing  it.  He  prefers 
to  be  his  own  executor  rather  than  to  part  with  his  property  at  the  gate 


WILLIAM    JONES.  63 

of  the  grave,  with  the  reflection  that  it  will  very  likely  hv  (livi(le<l  between 
attorneys  at  law — conduct  meriting  of  commendation  and  an  example 
worthy  of  imitation.  He  reaches  a  decision  after  calm  deliheration,  but 
when  it  is  reached  it  is  impossible  to  coax  or  drive  him  from  it.  He  could 
never  be  beguiled  into  what  he  believed  unlawful,  and  as  throughout 
all  his  long  and  earnest  life  he  has  maintained  a  character  unsullied, 
he  will  leave  a  name  unstained. 


THOMAS   B.   BRYAN, 


Thomas  Barbour  Bryan  was  born  in  Alexandria,  Virginia,  22d 
December,  1828.  His  father,  Hon.  Daniel  Bryan,  Avas  for  many  years 
Postmaster  of  that  city,  and  for  some  time  represented  his  district  in 
the  State  Senate,  besides  holding  other  positions  of  public  trust  and  honor. 
His  mother,  Mary  T.  Bryan,  is  the  only  surviving  sister  of  Governor 
James  Barbour,  of  Virginia,  formerly  U.  S.  Senator,  Secretary  of  War, 
and  also  Minister  to  England ;  and  of  Hon.  Pliilip  Barbour,  who  was  at 
one  time  Speaker  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives  and  subsequently 
one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Preparing 
himself  for  college  in  the  best  scliools  in  Virginia,  he  entered 
Harvard  University,  in  Massachusetts,  maintaining  a  high  position  as  a 
devoted  and  successful  student  throughout  his  entire  course  in  that  insti- 
tution, graduating  with  honor,  and  receiving  his  diploma  from  the  Law 
Department  in  1848.  While  in  the  University  he  gave  especial  attention 
to  the  study  of  the  German  language,  for  which  he  had  a  great  admira- 
tion, and  in  which  he  became  a  ready  speaker  and  writer;  indeed,  Avhilst 
prosecuting  his  college  studios,  he  wrote  a  book  in  the  German  language, 
the  aim  of  which  was  to  flicilitate  the  acquisition  of  our  own  tongue  by 
the  Germans.  The  book  was  a  marked  success.  It  i)asscd  through  se\-eral 
editions,  being  first  ])ublished  in  Boston,  and  afterwards,  at  their  own 
solicitation,  by  Applcton  t^-  Co.,  of  New  York.  There  is  probably  not  a 
more  thorough  German  scholar  in  America  than  Mr.  Bryan.  He  reads, 
speaks  and  writes  that  language;  almost  as  readily  as  he  does  the  Englisli. 
In  the  dead  languages  and  in  French  and  Italian  he  is  also  proficient. 
In  1849  he  settled  in  Newport,  Kentucky,  opposite  Cincinnati,  and  in  the 


66  BIOGRAPHIOAL   SKETCHES, 

succeeding  year  was  married  to  Miss  Jennie  B.  Page,  daughter  of  Rev.  C 
H.  Page,  Chaplain  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  a  most  gentle,  accomplished  and 
excellent  lady. 

After  several  years'  successful  practice  of  his  profession  in  Cincinnati, 
in  partnership  with  Judge  Samuel  M.  Hart,  Mr.  Bryan  in  1853  removed 
to  Chicago,  with  the  view  of  investing  his  income  in  the  rapidly  enhancing 
real  estate  of  this,  at  that  time,  young  and  thriving  city.  Not  only  were  his 
investments  in  his  own  behalf  highly  successful,  but  he  soon  built  up  for 
himself  an  extensive  business  as  an  agent  for  others,  in  the  purchase  and 
sale  of  real  estate,  large  sums  being  confided  to  him  for  this  purpose  by 
clients  in  Ohio,  Iventucky,  Virginia,  etc. 

For  years  past,  Mr.  Bryan  lias  been  regarded  as  one  of  ovn-  chief  and 
most  trustworthy  authorities  in  real  estate  matters,  and  the  business  of 
his  agency  (now  knoM'u  as  the  firm  of  Thos.  B.  Bryan  &  Co.)  amounts  to 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually.  Being  a  well-versed  lawyer, 
familiar  with  all  the  legal  forms  and  technicalities,  as  well  as  the  routine 
of  the  real  estate  business,  being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  value 
and  character  of  all  the  lands  in  and  around  the  city,  and  his  fidelity  to 
trusts  being  proverbial,  clients  have  always  felt  that  whatever  proceeded 
from  Mr.  Bryan's  office,  whether  a  title  deed,  an  abstract  of  title,  or  words 
of  advice,  was  not  to  be  questioned.  Mr.  Bryan,  it  is  safe  to  say,  ha.s 
more  warm  jiersonal  friends  than  any  other  prominent  citizen  of  Chicago. 
None  know  him  but  to  love  him.  Never,  in  respect  to  any  man,  has  this 
been  more  true  than  it  is  in  his  case.  From  the  time  of  his  first  arrival 
here,  fourteen  years  ago,  he  has  been  a  leader  in  all  good  works,  an  ever 
liberal  friend  of  the  poor,  favorable  to  every  public  enterprise  that  was 
calculated  to  benefit  the  city  and  ensure  the  welfare  of  the  community,  a 
champion  of  progress,  a  patron  of  art  and  popular  education,  and  an 
exemplar  of  human  refinement  and  Christian  magnanimity  and  charity. 
Of  no  living  man  can  the  words  of  Shakespeare  be  more  aptly  quoted,  that 

"  He  hath  a  tear  for  pity,  and  a  hand 
Open  aa  day  for  melting  charity." 

He  combines  in  himself  those  noble  and  commendable  qualities  of  heart 
and  soul  which  make  up  the  true  "Christian  gentleman."  Scrupulously 
conscientious,  naturally  of  a  cheerful  spirit,  in  disposition  liberal,  generous 
and  forbearing,  and  in  his  manners  uniformly  gentle  and  courteous,  and 
yet  gracefully  dignified,  he  draws  all  good  men  to  him,  as  if  by  magnetic 


THOMAS     B.    BRYAN.  67 

agency,  and  it  can  truly  be  said  that  the  entire  community  respects, 
juhnires  and  loves  him. 

Mr.  Bryan  was  a  leading  and  active  member  of  the  Chicago  Young 
Men's  Library  Association  when  it  Avas  in  its  infancy,  and  was  one  of  its 
Hrst  Presidents.  It  was  during  his  term  of  office  that  the  association, 
with  its  then  growing  library,  removed  from  its  narrow  limits  in  Warner 
J  lull  to  its  more  capacious  and  ai)propriate  quarters  in  Portland  Block. 
He  ^\•as  elected  President  of  the  Graceland  Cemetery  Company,  when  that 
association  was  first  organized,  and  it  was  through  his  energetic  individual 
efforts,  and  under  the  inspiration  of  his  wise  judgment  and  good  taste  that 
the  ground  occupied  l)y  this  Cemetery  was  changed  from  an  area  of  desert 
and  state  of  nature  into  a  magnificent  garden,  with  its  ornamental 
grounds,  its  beautiful  shade  and  shrubbery,  and  its  well  arranged  surround- 
ings. jNIr.  Bryan,  \vhile  freely  enjoying  and  at  proper  times  expressing 
his  jxtlitical  opinions  and  convictions,  has  never  had  an  inclination  to 
mingle  in  the  active  strife  of  party  politics.  He  has  been  frequently 
importuned  to  accept  the  candidacy  for  official  positions,  but  has  never 
willingly  consented  to  do  so.  In  1861,  some  of  his  friends  prevailed  upon 
him  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used  for  Mayor  on  what  was  called  "The 
People's  Ticket,"  in  opposition  to  Hon.  Julian  Rumsey,  the  regular 
Republican  candidate.  Had  he  been  aware,  at  the  outset,  that  he  would 
thus  be  placed  in  the  position  of  opposing  the  Republican  party,  he  would 
not  have  accepted  the  nomination ;  but  neither  he  nor  his  friends,  when 
he  accepted  the  offer,  anticipated  that  the  contest  would  assume  the  shape 
it  finally  did.  He  was  defeated  at  the  polls,  and  he  himself  appeared  to 
1)0  gratified  at  the  result.  He  had  no  desire  to  be  Mayor  of  the  city, 
neither  did  he  wish  to  disorganize  or  break  up  the  Republican  party, 
which,  at  that  time,  with  the  Southern  rebellion  against  the  Government 
just  assuming  formidable  proportions,  was  a  national  necessity.  In  1864, 
again  contrary  to  his  desire,  he  was  placed  in  nomination  for  Mayor — this 
time  by  the  Republican  party — in  opposition  to  Hon.  Francis  C.  Sherman, 
tiie  Democratic  candidate.  He  was  defeated  by  a  very  small  majority. 
The  opinion  was  quite  general  at  this  time,  that  he  had  really  received  a 
majority  of  the  legal  votes  polled,  and  his  friends  urged  him  to  contest  the 
election,  but  he  answered  them,  that  he  was  not  sufficiently  anxious  to 
possess  the  office  to  do  so,  and  the  legality  of  Mr.  Sherman's  election 
was  therefore  never  tested. 

Mr.  Bryan,  although  a  native  of  Virginia,  with  many  valued  friends 


68  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

and  precious  associations  in  tlie  South,  voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln  for 
President,  and  was  a  strong  and  ardent  supporter  of  his  administration 
and  of  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  Freedom,  from  tlie  beginning  to  the 
end  of  tlie  war,  and  when  the  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  on  his  return  to 
Illinois,  after  denouncing  the  secessionists  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  pledging  his  support  to  the  cause  of  an  undivided  Union,  was 
honored  by  a  public  welcome  from  his  fellow  citizens  of  Chicago,  Mr.  Bryan 
was  designated  as  the  speaker  of  the  occasion.     He  delivered  the  wel- 
coming address  to  the  great  statesman  and  patriot,  uttering  warm  words  of 
greeting  and  commendation,  and  expressing,  in  eloquent  and  affecting 
language,  the  sentiments  of  the  vast  multitude  of  patriot  citizens  then 
assembled  under  the  broad  and  rude  canopy  of  the  "Republican  Wigwam" 
in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  nominated.     It  was  an  occasion  to  be 
remembered  by  all  who  witnessed  it.     Mr.  Douglas  there  and  then  made 
his  last  great  speech.     It  was  his  last  appearance  before  the  public.     In  a 
few  weeks  afterwards,  the  loyal  people  of  the  Republic  mourned  his  death. 
]Mr,  i^rvan  was  active,  devoted  and  self-sacrificing,  during  the  war,  in 
all   those   stirring    and    memorable  events  in    our    city,    attending   the 
enlistments,  equipment  and  sending  forth  of  volunteers,  the  feeding  and 
caring  for  regiments  in  process  of  formation,  or  in  transitu  through  the 
citv,  and  the  measures  of  relief  fjr  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  on  the 
field,  in  camp  and  in  hospital.     He  was  one  of  the  most  prompt,  energetic, 
liberal  and  conspicuous  of  the  many  men  of  Chicago,  who,  during  that 
severe  ordeal  of  the  Union,  demonstrated,  by  acts  as  well  as  words,  the 
sound  and  precious  metal  that  true  patriotism  is  made  of.     He  was  chosen 
President  of  the  "Soldiers'  Home,"  which  was  established  here  by  the 
loval  men  and  women  of  Chicago,  for  the  entertainment  and  comfort  of 
soldiers  temporarily  in  the  city,  and  which  is  now  a  permanent  institution 
for  the  care  of  disabled  veterans  of  the  war.     He  was  also  a  prominent 
and  spirited  member  of  the  "  Union  Defence  Committee,"  an  organization 
of  citizens  of  Chicago  which  accomplished  much  for  the  Union  cause  and 
the  army,  by  expediting  enlistments,  equipping  companies  and  regiments, 
and  hastening  them  forward  to  the  field.     When  the  last  great  Sanitary 
Fair  was  held  in  this  city,  for  raising  funds  for  the  relief  of  disabled 
soldiers,  Mr.  Bryan  was  President  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  the 
active  Superintendent  of  that  remarkable  and  successful  exhibition.     To 
these  patriotic  movements  he  gave  nearly  all  his  time,  relinquishing  his 
perspnal  business  to  the  care  of  others.     Besides  contributing  generously 


THOMAS    B.    BRYAN.  69 

and  frequently  from  his  individual  purse,  he  sacrificed  private  interests  and 
even  impaired  his  health  in  his  efforts  for  the  public;  welfare.  At  the  first 
Chicago  Sanitary  Fair,  he  purchased  the  original  draft  of  President 
Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation,  paying  $3,000  for  the  document. 
He  then  donated  it  to  the  "Soldiers'  Home,"  which  realized  thousands 
of  dollars  from  the  sale  of  lithograph  copies.  After  four  years  of  almost 
incessant  labor  for  the  cause  of  the  Union,  peace  having  finally  been 
declared,  Mr.  Bryan  determined  to  leave  his  affairs  in  charge  of  his 
nephew  and  partner,  Bryan  Lathrop,  and,  in  company  with  his  wife  and 
two  children,  go  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  re-establishing  his  own  health 
and  that  of  his  wife.  They  are  still  sojourning  in  delightful  seclusion,  on 
the  banks  of  Lake  Geneva,  at  Montreux,  the  Nice  of  Switzerland — 
famous  for  its  healthful  climate  and  the  surpassing  beauty  of  its  scenery. 
Two  incidents  of  his  boyhood,  related  to  us  by  one  who  was  a  member 
of  the  family  of  Mr.  Bryan's  father  at  the  time  of  their  occurrence,  are 
characteristic,  and  show  how  truly  sometimes  "  the  boy  is  father  to  the 
man."  When  he  was  but  twelve  years  of  age,  he  was  visiting  a  relative 
in  the  country,  and  accompanied  the  family  to  hear  an  itinerant  preacher. 
After  returning  to  the  house,  he  was  asked  how  he  liked  the  sermon. 
He  replied,  that  he  thought  the  preacher  did  not  understand  the  meaning 
of  his  text,  and  that  almost  any  intelligent  child  could  preach  a  better 
sermon  on  that  text.  His  relative  then  said,  laughingly,  "  Well,  Thomas, 
since  you  think  it  so  easy,  suppose  you  try  it."  The  boy  smiled,  but  said 
nothing.  After  dinner  he  went  to  his  room,  and  was  not  visible  till 
supper  time,  when,  on  being  questioned  as  to  his  occupation  during  so 
many  hours,  he  blushingly  replied,  "I  was  writing  a  sermon."  The 
family,  of  course,  requested  to  see  it,  and  on  reading  it,  were  astonished, 
and  so  delighted,  that  they  circulated  it  among  their  friends.  It  finally 
excited  so  much  interest,  that  they  prevailed  upon  him  to  read  it  in  the 
public  meeting-house,  in  the  presence  of  quite  a  large  congregation,  who 
expressed  themselves  as  amazed  at  the  "wisdom  from  the  mouth  of  a 
babe."  We  do  not  know  that  Mr.  Bryan  has  ever  Avritten  a  sermon  from 
that  day  to  this,  but  we  have  listened  to  many  excellent  sermons,  which 
he  has  translated  from  the  German  and  delivered  in  his  cozy  little  chapel 
at  Cottage  Hill  (the  place  of  his  charming  summer  residence,)  to  the 
members  of  his  family,  and  those  of  the  neighborhood,  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  assembling  on  the  Lord's  day,  when  he  is  at  home,  for  the 
purpose  of  joining  him  in  religious  worship. 


70  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  other  incideut  related  to  us,  was  an  almost  equally  important 
event  in  his  youthful  history.  AVhen  he  Avas  only  seventeen  years  of  age, 
he,  with  one  or  two  others,  was  invited  to  address  a  popular  meeting 
during  the  military  excitement  attending  our  war  with  Mexico.  Vol- 
unteers were  wanted,  but  the  enlistments  were  slow.  He  was  not  notified 
of  what  was  expected  of  him,  until  two  or  three  liours  before  the  meeting- 
assembled,  and  had,  therefore,  only  that  short  time  for  preparation.  The 
place  of  meeting  was  thronged  to  its  utmost  capacity.  After  his  name 
liad  been  several  times  called  by  those  present,  he  blushingly  emerged 
from  the  crowd,  advanced  to  the  front,  and  ascended  the  rostrum,  pale 
and  trembling.  At  first,  his  voice  faltered  so  as  to  be  almost  inaudible, 
but  gradually  gaining  self-control  and  confidence,  he  warmed  up  with 
his  subject,  and  thrilled  all  present  by  his  impassioned  appeal  to  the  men 
to  come  forward  and  enlist  in  the  cause  of  the  nation,  in  that  time  of 
need.  So  effective  was  his  boyish  eloquence,  that  many  additional  names 
were  immediately  added  to  the  nmster  roll. 

How  vividly  do  many  of  our  citizens  and  war-Avorn  veterans  remem- 
ber the  earnest,  eloquent  words  of  ^Ir.  Bryan  spoken  to  the  troops  on 
leaving  or  reaching  our  city,  or  at  war  meetings,  during  our  late  struggle 
against  rebellion.  Fortunate  Mere  those  soldiers  who  followed  the  good 
advice  he  gave  them  on  the  eve  of  their  departure  for  the  field.  He 
counseled  them  with  tears  in  his  eyes  and  in  a  manner  and  language  that 
evinced  how  deeply  his  heart  was  in  the  cause  they  had  enlisted  to  main- 
tain. Chicago  volunteers  never  allowed  an  ()})portunity  to  slip  by  without 
expressing  their  gratitude  for  his  devotion  to  their  welfare,  and  his 
untiring  efforts  and  munificent  contributions  in  their  behalf.  While 
the  war  was  in  progress  he  received  numerous  testimonials  of  thankful- 
ness and  affection  from  the  army,  which  he  retains  and  prizes  as  above 
value.  How  true  it  is,  that  generosity  of  soul  and  genuine  jjatriotism  are 
inseparable  elements  of  human  nature.  We  desire  no  more  marked 
illustration  of  this  fact  than  that  found  in  the  person  of  Thos.  B.  Bryan. 

Several  years  ago  Mr.  Bryan  erected  and  opened  to  the  public  a  large 
and  elegant  concert  and  lecture-hall  on  Clark  street,  opposite  the  Court 
House.  The  building  has  since  been  devoted  to  mercantile  purposes. 
Until  the  completion  of  the  Crosby  Opera  House,  all  first-class  entertain- 
ments were  held  in  "Bryan  Hall."  He  opened  it  for  the  free  use  of  war 
meetings,  and  it  was  the  scene  of  many  an  exciting  rally  for  the  country's 
defence,    of   fail's   for   the   aid   and   relief   of   the   soldiers,   and   of   the 


THOMAS    B.    RRYAN.  71 

entertainment  of  departing  or  arriving  regiments.  Pie,  also,  "many  a 
time  and  oft"  gave  its  free  use  for  cliurch  fairs,  religious  gatherings  and 
eharitable  i)urposes.  Indeed,  we  may  state  in  few  words  a  truth  which 
is  proverbial  in  this  community,  that  Mr.  Bryan  is  never  so  happy  as 
when  he  is  making  others  so,  either  by  kindly  deeds  or  friendly  words. 
And  here  we  may  leave  him,  with  an  earnest  exjiression  of  hope  that  a 
long  career  of  continued  usefulness  and  prosperity  may  still  be  in  store 
for  him. 


CHARLES  VOLNEY  DYER. 


Chaeles  Volney  Dyer,  the  son  of  Daniel  Dyer  and  Susan  Olin 
Dyer,  was  born  in  Clarendon,  Vermont,  on  the  12th  day  of  June,  1808. 
He  was  the  youngest  but  one  of  ten  children.  Daniel  Dyer  was  a  fanner, 
but  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  lie  enlisted  as  a  private,  and  subse- 
quently rose  to  be  Adjutant  of  one  of  the  Massachusetts  regiments,  and 
held  a  commission  under  Governor  Hancock,  of  which  he  was  ever  justly 
proud.  Daniel  Dyer  -was  an  honest,  hard-working  man,  economical,  but 
hospitable  and  kind-hearted.  Although  a  man  of  religious  nature,  he  was 
no  disciple  of  Calvin,  and  stood  in  no  terror  of  the  anathemas  which  the 
clergy  were  sometimes  wont  to  invoke  upon  heretics.  The  caustic  Avit 
which  has  distinguislied  the  son  was  also  possessed  by  the  father.  Among 
other  recipients  of  the  good  farmer's  hospitality,  was  Judge  Harrington, 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Vermont,  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Dyer,  and  famous 
half  a  century  ago  for  deciding,  judicially,  that  the  claimant  of  a  fugitive 
slave  must  produce  a  bill  of  sale  from  the  Almighty  before  he  could  own 
a  man  under  Vermont  law.  He  was  a  sound  Democrat,  but  the  staunch 
patriot  could  not  tolerate  slavery  in  the  Green  INIountain  Stale.  The 
Judge  was  a  zealous  Calvinist,  and  at  one  time  importuned  Daniel  for  a 
liberal  donation  to  aid  in  converting  the  Indians  at  Green  Bay.  After  a 
courteous  refusal,  being  still  urged,  he  replied :  "  Judge,  if  any  specified 
number  of  the  human  race  are  to  suffer  eternal  torments,  I  think  it  will 
be  for  the  glory  of  God  to  take  it  all  out  in  Indians." 

Mrs.  Dyer  Avas  a  daughter  of  Gideon  Olin,  and  sister  of  Judge 
Abraham  Olin — a  woman  of  poetic  tcmjjcrament — of  remarkable  energy, 
and  distinguished  for  the  peculiar  trait  which  we  term  "pure  grit."  ^n 
incident  will  illustrate  these  characteristics.    Several  persons  of  distinction 


74  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

had  been  tlirown  into  jail  for  alleged  violations  of  the  infamous  sedition 
law.  Among  others,  ^Matthew  Lyon  was  incarcerated  in  Rutland  for 
publishing  a  seditious  article.  He  was  unable  to  procure  bail  in  the 
enormous  sum  required,  and,  to  effect  his  release,  Mrs.  Dyer,  on  horseback, 
visited  the  principal  villages  in  the  State,  borrowed  all  the  family  silver 
and  gold  of  political  friends,  and  after  transporting  it,  unattended,  for 
more  than  a  thousand  miles,  deposited  it,  to  the  value  of  fifteen  thousand 
dollars,  Ayith  the  Sheriff,  and  demanded  and  obtained  Lyon's  release. 
Subsequently  he  was  tried  and  acquitted,  and  the  spoons  and  gold  beads 
were  returned  to  their  respective  owners. 

Few  spots,  even  in  the  State  so  justly  eulogized  for  delightful  scenery, 
are  more  beautiful  than  the  place  wliere  Charles  spent  his  boyhood  and 
early  youth.  A  few  miles  to  the  east  rises  proudly  the  Green  Mountain 
range,  which,  a  little  to  the  northward,  towers  grandly  upward,  forming 
Killington  Peak,  which,  like  a  solemn  sentinel,  stands  guard  over  the 
lovely  valley  of  the  historic  Otter  Creek.  Far  to  the  west,  tlic  blue  ])caks 
of  the  Adirondacks  pierce  the  sky.  Here,  flanked  on  one  side  by  the  old 
school-house,  and  on  the  otlier  by  the  village  church,  stood  the  plain, 
simple  cottage  of  the  farmer.  In  this  (piiet  and  peaceful  home  Charles 
spent  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  toiling  diligently  on  the  farm  during 
the  summer,  and  improving  with  eager  avidity  tiie  three  months  of 
"  winter  school."  Here  he  displayed  ability  so  uncommon,  and  gave  such 
marked  promise  of  intellectual  eminence  that  he  was  sent  to  Castleton 
Academy  to  fit  for  college.  While  here,  he  boarded  with  ]\Irs.  Foote,  the 
Ayidowed  mother  of  Solomon  Foote,  since  Hon.  Solomon  Foote,  United 
States  Senator,  the  patriot,  statesman  and  gentleman.  The  two  young 
men  were  roommates,  and  remained  intimate  friends  until  the  venerated 
sage  passed  away,  invoking  blessings  upon  the  dear  country  he  had  served 
so  long  and  well. 

When  fitted  for  college,  young  Dyer  finally  decided  to  forego  the 
classical  course,  and  entered  at  once  the  medical  department  of  Middlebury 
College,  then  located  in  Castleton,  and,  under  the  charge  of  Professor 
Woodward,  became  a  pupil  in  the  Professor's  office.  He  graduated 
December  29,  1830,  with  distinguished  honors,  the  favorite  alike  of 
faculty  and  classmates.  Ardently  devoted  to  his  chosen  profession,  he 
went  courageously  forth  to  the  struggle  of  life,  conscious  of  power,  and 
presaging  certain  success. 

In    February,    1831,    he    commenced    practice    in    Xewark,    Wayne 


CHARLES   VOLNEY   DYER.  75 

County,  New  Jersey.  He  soon  acquired  a  reputation  for  unusual  skill, 
and  became  popular  among  all  classes.  But  the  enterprising,  far-seeing 
young  man  could  not  content  himself  with  the  moderate  prospects  opening 
there,  and  instinctively  turned  to  the  great  M'est  (then  faintly  fore- 
shadowing its  prospective  greatness),  and,  guided  by  an  unerring  intuition, 
he  landed  in  Chicago  in  August,  1835.  He  soon  after  became  acting 
Surgeon  of  the  garrison,  attained  speedy  eminence  in  liis  profession,  and 
became  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  infant  colony. 

In  1837,  he  married  Louisa  M.  Gilford,  of  Elgin,  a  lady  of  fine 
natural  endowments  and  graceful  manners,  whose  excellent  sense,  fine 
culture  and  domestic  accomplishments  eminently  fitted  her  for  a  help-meet 
for  a  young  man  with  a  full  head  and  an  empty  pocket,  industrious, 
energetic,  impecunious,  and  determined  to  wrest  success  from  adverse 
fate  and  carve  out  an  honorable  career;  and  tlie  mature  woman  has  more 
than  fulfilled  the  fair  promise  of  the  young  bride.  Six  children  have 
been  born  to  them,  three  of  whom  still  survive — Stella  Louisa,  born 
November  22,  1841,  now  Mrs.  Loring;  Charles  Gilford,  born  December 
29,  1845,  and  Louis,  born  September  30,  1851. 

To  the  shrewdness  and  indomitable  perseverance  of  the  New  England 
character,  the  Doctor  had  now  added  the  broad  sympathy  and  greatness 
of  soul  begotten  by  the  infinite  prairie  and  the  grandeur  of  the  illimitable 
West.  Sagaciously  perceiving  the  miraculous  future  of  the  City  of  the 
Interior,  the  first  fruits  of  his  energy  and  frugality  were  judiciously 
invested  in  real  estate,  Avhich  by  its  rapid  appreciation  soon  rendered  him 
comparatively  affluent.  The  lot  on  which  the  Post  Office  now  stands  was 
purchased  for  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  A  few  years  after  he  sold  it 
to  Government  for  forty-six  thousand  dollars. 

Having  amassed  a  handsome  competence,  in  1854  he  retired  from 
practice,  and  has  since  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  his  ample  estates  in 
the  city  and  vicinity,  and,  cherishing  tlie  true  philosopliy  of  life,  enjoys 
in  mature  years  the  results  of  manhood's  achievement. 

In  1863,  Dr.  Dyer  received,  as  a  personal  comi)liment  from  President 
Lincoln,  with  whom  he  had  long  been  an  intimate  friend,  the  appointment 
of  Judge  of  the  Mixed  Court  fi)r  the  Sui)[)ression  of  the  African  Slave 
Trade,  an  international  tribunal,  holding  its  sessions  in  Sierra  Leone,  and 
in  June  sailed  with  his  family  for  Europe.  The  Ibllowing  two  years, 
when  not  on  duty,  tlie  Jmlge  spent  in  traveling  leisurely  through  Europe, 
and  resided  temporarily  in  Switzerland,  Home,  Florence  and  Munich. 


76  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Early  in  life  his  mind  was  attracted  towards  the  religious  teachings  of 
Emanuel  Swcdenborg,  and,  after  many  years'  patient  investigation,  in 
1845  he  fully  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church.  Soon  after, 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Dyer,  Hon.  and  Mrs.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  and  John  E. 
Wheeler  organized  the  New  Jerusalem  Society,  of  which  the  Judge  has 
since  been  an  active  member.  The  society  now  numbers  many  other 
persons  of  wealth  and  liberal  culture,  and  is  a  beautiful  testimonial  to  the 
zeal  and  liberality  of  its  founders.  If  there  be  any  instinctive  preference 
of  religious  theories,  any  correspondence  between  character  and  creed, 
any  theological  idiosyncracies  in  the  moral  constitution,  then  Dr.  Dyer 
naturally  gravitates  towards  the  tenets  of  Swedenborg.  A  Calvinist  he 
could  never  have  been,  unless  early  indoctrinated  and  carefully  kept  from 
investigating  more  congenial  religious  systems. 

A  politician  he  has  never  been,  and  has  frequently  neglected  or  refused 
nominations  when  success  was  certain.  But  there  is  no  more  sturdy 
advocate  of  liuman  rights  and  equality  under  the  law;  therefore  from 
boyhood  he  has  been  a  staunch  Abolitionist.  In  1832,  he  voted  for 
William  Wirt;  in  1836,  refused  to  vote  for  Van  Buren  on  anti-slavery 
grounds;  in  1840,  voted  for  Birney;  and  from  that  time  forward  voted 
for  Abolition  candidates  until  he  first  found  himself  on  the  winning  side 
vv^hen  Abraham  Lincoln  was  chosen  President.  Dyer,  Gushing,  Collins, 
Allen,  Freer  and  Pinkerton  were  for  years  the  principal  officers  of  the 
"underground  railroad"  in  Chicago,  and  assisted  in  rescuing  more  than  a 
thousand  panting  fugitives  from  the  odious  wretches  who,  under  the 
shield  of  law,  hunted  down  God's  creatures  innocent  of  crime. 

A  true  history  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  these  then  despised  Abolitionists 
would  be  more  thrilling  than  a  romance.  One  or  two  instances  must 
suffice.  In  1846,  a  fugitive  from  Kentucky,  living  in  Dr.  Dyer's  family, 
was  one  morning  seized  on  the  streets  by  his  "  master "  and  his  satellites, 
taken  to  their  room  in  the  Mansion  House,  and  bound  hand  and  foot  with 
cords,  until  a  blacksmith  could  be  obtained  to  rivet  the  waiting  manacles. 
Learning  the  whereabouts  of  the  poor  boy  whom  he  had  befriended,  the 
sturdy  lover  of  right,  filled  with  anger  and  indignation,  turned  his  steps 
toward  the  Mansion  House.  Men  knew  by  the  look  on  his  face  that  some- 
thing tragic  would  occur,  or  the  captive  be  set  free.  He  found  the  room 
fastened,  burst  it  in  with  a  sudden  crash,  cut  the  ropes  in  an  instant,  and 
pointed  to  the  window.  The  negro  sprang  out  and  disappeared. 
Paralyzed  for  a  moment  by  the  audacity  of  the  rescuer,  the  man-stealers 


CHAKT.ES    VOI.NEY    DYEK.  77 

turned,  foamiiifij  witli  rage,  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  liiin,  hut  he 
luid  coolly  walked  out.  Following  him  to  the  sidewalk,  one  rushed  upon 
him  with  a  bowie-knife,  uttering  horrid  imprecations.  With  a  quick 
blow  of  a  cane,  he  was  felled  as  though  smitten  by  lightning  from  heaven. 
The  rest  discreetly  retreated,  leaving  the  bold  patriot  victorious.  The 
shattered  cane  was  afterwards  presented  to  the  martyred  Lovejoy,  and  the 
citizens  of  Chicago,  admiring  the  cool  courage  and  physical  prowess  of 
their  champion,  presented  to  him  a  splendid  gold-headed  cane,  with 
inscriptions  commemorating  the  occasion. 

In  1848,  a  fugitive  from  INIissouri  was  on  trial  l)efore  a  Justice. 
Dr.  Dyer  suggested,  as  a  point  of  defense,  that  no  proof  was  before  the 
Court  that  slavery  was  ever  established  in  INIissouri.  While  Dogberry 
was  waiting  to  procure  the  statutes  of  that  State,  the  slave  was  handed 
out  of  the  window,  passed  to  those  below,  and  quickly  fled.  "Where  is 
the  prisoner?"  said  the  Justice.  "He  has  sunk  into  the  bosom  of  the 
community,"  Avas  the  Doctor's  iastant  reply.  Rhines,  the  constable,  a 
cowardly  bully,  brandishing  a  revolver  and  bowie-knife,  threatened  to 
arrest  the  Doctor.  With  a  twinkle  of  the  eye,  he  replied,  "You  are 
more  deserving  of  arrest  for  displaying  so  much  cutlery  on  the  street 
without  a  license."     Rhines  subsided. 

At  an  Anti-Slavery  Convention  held  in  Chicago,  it  was  resolved  to 
establish  a  national  anti-slavery  newspaper  at  Washington.  Dr.  Dyer 
was  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  selected  Bailey  as  editor,  and 
Whittier  and  Phelps  as  assistants;  and  thus  began  the  "National  Era." 

Though  a  liberal  and  public-spirited  citizen.  Judge  Dyer  is  no  philan- 
thropist by  profession.  His  honest  nature  scorns  the  systematic  puffing 
by  which  the  reputation  of  public  benefactors  is  made — at  fifty  cents  a 
line.  But  his  charities  have  been  none  the  less  munificent  because  known 
only  to  a  few  friends  and  to  Him  who  seeth  in  secret,  and  before  whom 
the  blessings  of  many  needy  ones  have  risen  up  as  a  cloud  of  fragrant 
incense. 

In  early  life  he  manifested  unusual  fondness  for  literature,  and  eagerly 
devoured  all  the  books  to  which  he  had  access.  Thoraj>son,  Shenstone 
and  Burns  were  his  favorite  poets;  in  the  world  of  fiction,  John  Bunyan 
charmed  his  boyish  fancy;  and  the  sermons  of  Barrows,  Tillotson  and 
Chalmers  were  almost  memorized  by  repeated  j)erusals.  In  the  leisure  of 
later  life,  he  has  formed  an  acquaintance  with  ancient  and  modern  literature, 
especially  the  poets,  with  whose  best  passages  his  retentive  memory  is 


"78  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

richly  stored.  He  accounts  for  this  hy  saying,  half  apologetically, 
that  it  is  easier  to  remember  poetry  than  to  forget  it.  His  conversation, 
enriched  by  the  choicest  gems  of  poetry,  and  anecdotes  always  apropos, 
and  enlivened  by  brilliant  flashes  of  wit  and  a  constant  flow  of  delicate 
humor,  renders  him  a  most  entertaining  and  charming  companion. 

Naturally  a  discriminating  judge  of  art,  and  an  intimate  friend  of 
Story,  Rogers,  Powers,  Mozier  and  many  other  eminent  artists,  his 
taste  has  been  cultivated  to  a  degree  rarely  equaled  in  one  practically 
unfamiliar  with  artistic  details. 

He  has  a  special  fondness  for  the  society  of  the  young,  and  an 
affectionate  interest  in  young  men  of  worth  and  talent;  and  words  of 
encouragement  from  his  lips  have  cheered  many  a  desponding  heart.  He 
loves  to  rejuvenate  himself  by  constant  youthful  association,  and  thus  keep 
alive  the  ardor  and  freshness  of  early  years;  and  now,  at  nearly  three 
score,  his  mind  retains  all  the  buoyancy  and  elasticity  of  youth,  and  he  is 
fully  en  rapport  with  the  radical  spirit  of  the  age.  A  generons  but 
unostentatious  hospitality  adds  another  charm  to  his  pleasant  home,  and 
increases  the  delight  of  those  who  throng  its  portals.  But  the  most 
prominent  trait  of  the  Doctor's  (diaractcr,  and  which  renders  him  a 
universal  favorite,  is  his  brilliant  wit,  which,  permeated  and  softened  by 
the  kindness  of  his  great  heart,  sparkles  ceaselessly,  like  the  undulating 
sea  in  the  calm  sunshine  of  an  autumn  day.  In  repartee  ho  is  unap- 
proachable, and  few  are  found  willing  to  engage  in  a  second  tournament 
of  wit  with  so  formidable  an  antagonist,  although  his  courteous  bon  homic 
mitigates  the  pungency  of  his  satire  and  renders  wounded  pride  impos- 
sible. But  he  is  an  honest  hater  of  shams  and  impostors,  and  never 
spares  the  lash  when  specious  hypocrites  cross  his  pathway.  Woe  to  the 
luckless  wight  who  invites  upon  his  unfortunate  head  the  vials  of  his 
wrath.  When  he  opens  his  magazine  of  ridicule,  sarcasm  and  invective, 
nothing  but  absolute  stupidity  or  the  epidermis  of  a  rhinoceros  can 
survive  the  onslaught. 

"Sworn  foe  to  cant,  he  emote  it  down,  With  trenchant  wit  nnsparinor; 
And,  mocking,  rent  with  ruthless  hand  The  7-ohc  pretense  was  wearing." 

An  incident  will  illustrate  his  powers  of  repartee.  AVhen  at  Teneriffe, 
in  1863,  the  resident  Americans  celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July.  Among 
the  guests  were  several  British  officers.  While  the  Judge  Avas  responding 
to  the  toast,  "The  President  of  the  United  States,"  Captain  Edwards,  a 


(•iiAi;i,i:s  voLNKY  DVKi;.  79 

British  officer,  constantly  interrupted  him  l)y  side  rciniirks,  such  as 
'*  Vioksburg  isn't  taken  yet,"  etc.  AVhen  the  same  officer  was  respoiidint;- 
to  tlie  sentiment,  "The  Queen  of  Enghuid,"  he  repeated  the  stale  })hra.se, 
"the  sun  never  sets  on  her  dominions;"  to  which  the  JmV^o,  sotto  t^oce, 
replied,  "That's  because  the  Lord  can't  trust  an  Englishman  in  the  dark." 

Soon  after  receiving  his  commission  as  Judge  of  the  Mixed  Court,  a 
Kentucky  friend  met  him,  and  said,  "  Why  do  you  go  to  Africa  at  your 
time  of  life;  can't  you  get  nigger  enough  in  America?"  "I  have  been 
looking  all  my  life,"  said  the  Judge,  "for  a  negro  without  any  Kentucky 
blood  in  him,  but  in  vain.     I  am  going  to  Africa  to  find  one." 

It  is  a  singular  and  beautiful  circumstance  that  Judge  Dyer,  who  was 
sent  abroad  by  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  before  his  return,  had  the 
melancholy  pleasure  of  paying  the  most  distinguished  honors  to  his 
memory.  On  the  six  hundredth  anniversary  of  Dante's  birthday,  cele- 
brated at  Florence,  IMay  14,  1865,  he  was  invited  to  respond  for  America, 
and,  in  so  doing,  paid  a  beautiful  and  touching  tribute  of  affiiction  and 
respect  to  the  apostle  and  martyr  of  liberty.  When  he  pronounced  the 
name  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  every  Italian  in  that  vast  assembly  of 
distinguished  men  rose  reverently  to  his  feet,  and  stood  in  profound 
silence.  Each  heart  seemed  thrilled  with  a  pang  of  sorrow,  and  each 
countenance  betrayed  intense  emotion.  No  language  can  portray  the  effiict 
of  this  spontaneous  homage  to  the  memory  of  the  Liberator. 

When  the  news  of  the  assassination  reached  Rome,  the  Americans,  by 
common  consent,  came  together  to  mingle  their  tears  and  sympathies. 
Judge  Dyer  was  the  only  one  present  who  had  known  Mr.  Lincoln 
intimately.  In  a  most  simple  and  pathetic  manner,  he  spoke  of  the  great 
and  good  man.  As  he  proceeded,  half  suppressed  sobs  were  heard  on 
every  side,  and  as  he  closed,  scarcely  able  to  control  his  own  trembling 
utterance,  the  dew  of  grief  moistened  every  eye. 

Our  allotted  space  is  filled,  and  we  have  only  been  able  to  select  here 
and  there  from  the  wealth  of  material  at  our  command.  It  is  rank 
injustice  to  compress  such  a  biography  into  half  a  dozen  pages.  It  is  easy 
to  say  of  a  man  that  he  has  amassed  a  given  amount  of  wealth,  endowed 
institutions,  founded  charities,  projected  i)ublic  enterprises,  or  filled  offices 
of  trust.  But  no  man  is  richer  in  those  peculiarities  whicli,  in  the 
tout  ensemble,  constitute  the  individuality  of  a  man — that  which  we  love 
and  respect;  and  to  reproduce  in  space  so  scanty  that  rare  combination  of 
hard  common  sense  and  exuberant  fancy,  of  sound  judgment  and  most 


80  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

exquisite  humor,  of  solid  worth  and  keenest  wit,  of  sturdy  fidelity  to 
principle  and  simple  kindliness  of  heart,  of  blunt  Saxon  speech  and 
courtly  refinement  of  manners,  of  exhaustless  fund  of  pleasing  anecdote 
and  useful  information,  of  all  the  wonderful  variety  of  characteristics 
which,  blended,  form  the  Dr.  Dyer  whom  his  friends  know  and  cherish, 
is  simply  impossible.  Long  may  we  continue  to  enjoy  the  society  of  our 
genial  friend,  the  prince  of  humorists  and  bright  luminary  of  the  social 
circle,  and  to  learn  from  his  example  the  duty  of  a  j)ure  patriot.  Though 
we  defraud  the  Immortals  thereby,  we  most  fervently  join  in  the 
apostrophe  of  the  ancient  poet  to  his  loving  friend — Sents  in  ccelum  redeas. 


NATHAxN   SMITH   DAVIS. 


Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  was  born  January  9,  1817,  in  tlio  town  of  Greene, 
Chenango  county,  New  York.  His  father,  Dow  Davis,  with  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family,  still  reside  on  the  old  homestead.  For  a  farmer's  son 
at  that  early  day,  when  Central  New  York  was  "  the  A^^est,"  there  were 
few  opportunities  for  literary  culture,  and  the  problems  of  science  were 
presented  in  the  form  of  unbroken  forests  and  unsubdued  nature.  The 
son,  following  in  the  pursuits  of  the  father,  grew  up  to  manhood  Avith 
simple  tastes,  an  earnest  purpose  and  inured  to  toil.  His  physique,  fragile 
in  appearance,  acquired  during  those  early  years  a  symmetry  of  develop- 
ment and  a  firmness  of  texture  which  has  rendered  him  capable  of  great 
endurance,  and  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  success  that  has 
marked  his  public  professional  life. 

The  limited  means  of  the  father  prevented  him  from  giving  to  the  son 
the  advantages  of  a  liberal  course  of  study,  but  in  the  district  schools  of 
the  neighborhood  he  applied  himself  to  the  rudimentary  branches  of  an 
English  education.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  in  his  earnest  longing  lor  a 
field  of  M-ider  effort  and  more  extended  usefulness,  lie  formed  the  purpose 
of  preparing  himself  for  the  profession  in  which  he  has  since  been  so 
signally  successful. 

Before  commencing  his  medical  studies,  he  spent  six  months  in 
Cazenovia  Seminary,  devoting  himself  ardently  to  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics, the  natural  sciences  and  Latin.  A\' ith  the  meagre  preparati.)n  thus 
obtained,  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Daniel  Clark,  of  Smithville  Flats, 
as  a  medical  student.  The  following  winter  he  attcnided  the  lectures  in 
the  "College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  Western  District  of  New 
York,"  located  at  Fairfield.     At  the  close  of  the  session  he  contimied  his 


82  BIOGKAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

reading  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Thomas  Jackson,  of  Binghaniton,  New  York, 
where  lie  spent  the  two  snccecding  snnimers,  returning  to  the  college  at 
Fairfield  each  winter.  In  January,  1837,  at  the  close  of  his  third  course 
of  lectures,  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
Although  but  twenty  years  of  age,  with  very  limited  opportunities  of 
preliminary  study,  and  compelled  to  practice  the  most  rigid  economy,  his 
attainments  had  been  such  as  to  attract  the  especial  attention  of  the  faculty 
of  the  college,  and  he  was  selected  as  one  of  four  from  the  graduating 
class  to  read  at  the  public  Comraencemeiit  his  inaugural  thesis. 

Upon  the  termination  of  his  i)upilage,  by  the  recommendation  of  the 
faculty,  he  was  invited  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  as  the 
successor  of  Dr.  Daniel  Chatfield,  of  Vienna,  Oneida  County,  New  York. 
He  remained  there  but  a  few  months,  declining  what  seemed  to  be 
advantaireous  offers.  The  field  was  too  narrow  for  a  man  of  Dr.  Davis' 
industry  and  ambition.  In  the  July  following  he  removed  to  Bing- 
hamton,  where  lie  remained  for  the  next  ten  years,  gaining  a  strong  hold 
u[)on  the  confidence  of  his  professional  brethren,  and  endearing  himself 
by  his  fidelity  and  kindness  to  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

Soon  after  his  removal  to  Binghaniton,  in  the  spring  of  1838, 
Dr.  Davis  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Parker,  of 
Vienna. 

It  was  during  his  residence  here  that  his  influence  began  to  be  felt 
beyond  the  immediate  circle  of  those  with  Avhom  he  came  in  contact. 
His  contributions  to  the  medical  journals  of  the  day,  and  his  interest 
in  medical  organizations,  made  him  known  to  the  profession  as  an  earnest 
student  and  thinker.  The  New  York  State  Medical  Society,  at  its  annual 
meeting  in  February,  1840,  awarded  him  the  prize  offered  for  the  best 
essay  on  Diseases  of  the  Spinal  Column.  The  following  year  he  was 
awarded  by  the  same  Society  the  prize  for  the  best  essay  on  the  "Discov- 
eries in  the  Physiology  of  the  Nervous  System  since  the  Time  of  Charles 
Bell."  Both  of  these  essays  were  published  in  the  transactions  of  the 
Society.  In  1842,  he  represented  the  Medical  Society  of  Broome  County 
in  the  State  Medical  Society,  and  continued  in  active  co-operation,  con- 
tributing yearly  to  its  transactions  until  his  removal  from  the  State. 

As  early  as  1844,  Dr.  Davis  presented  to  the  New  York  State  INIedical 
Society  a  series  of  resolutions  on  the  subject  of  medical  teaching,  urging 
the  absolute  necessity  of  a  higher  standard  of  education,  both  preliminary 
and  professional.     These  resolutions,  with  others  of  a  similar  character. 


NATHAN   SMITH    DAVIS.  83 

were  referred  to  the  standing  Conunittee  on  Correspondence,  of"  which 
Dr.  Davis  was  made  Chairman.  The  discussions  upon  the  report  of  this 
committee  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society  led  to  the  introduction  by 
Dr.  Davis  of  a  resolution  earnestly  recommending  the  calling  of  a 
convention  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  question  of  medical  education 
and  other  matters  of  interest  to  the  profession.  The  resolution  was 
adopted  and  a  committee  appointed,  of  which  the  mover  of  the  resolution 
was  made  Chairman,  to  carry  it  into  cifect.  The  correspondence  of  this 
committee  resulted  in  the  meeting  of  a  convention  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  May,  1846,  and  the  subsequent  formation  of  the  "American 
Medical  Association."  His  connection  with  this  national  movement  had 
enlarged  his  views,  stimulated  his  ambition  and  introduced  him  to  the 
profession  of  the  metropolis. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  he  removed  to  New  York  city  and  commenced 
practice.  During  the  following  winter  he  acted  as  the  assistant  to  the 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  "College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons," 
and  at  the  close  of  the  winter  session  he  was  appointed  lecturer  in  the 
same  institution,  for  the  spring  course,  on  IMedical  Jurisprudence.  In 
1848,  he  commenced  the  publication  of  the  "Annalist,"  a  semi-monthly 
medical  journal,  of  which  he  continued  to  be  the  editor  and  proprietor 
until  his  removal  to  the  West. 

Naturally  industrious,  he  sought  and  found  in  his  new  field  of  labor 
abundant  work;  his  practice  was  slowly  but  surely  increasing ;  the  contact 
with,  and  example  of,  older  and  more  highly  cultivated  minds  stimulated 
him  to,  if  possible,  more  earnest  efforts  in  the  pursuits  of  literature  and 
science,  and  there  was  every  reason  to  predict  for  him  in  that  great  medical 
centre  a  successful  and  even  brilliant  future.  But  in  July,  1849,  the 
Faculty  and  Trustees  of  "Rush  Medical  College,"  of  Chicago,  tendered 
Dr.  Davis  the  chair  of  Physiology  and  Pathology,  which  he  accepted. 
He  had  long  had  his  attention  directed  to  the  West.  At  the  time  of  his 
location  at  Binghamton  he  was  only  prevented  by  })ecuniary  disabilities 
from  seeking  a  home  l^eyond  the  Lakes.  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  his 
success  in  New  York,  he  yielded  to  the  temptation.  He  reached  Chicago 
with  his  family  in  September,  and  in  the  following  month  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  in  the  College.  He  had  been  re})resented  to 
the  friends  of  the  institution  as  a  young  man  of  good  natural  abilities, 
great  energy  and  excellent  character,  and  in  his  contact  witii  the  profession 
during  his  first  course  of  lectures  he  fully  sustained  the  reputation  that 


3k 
84  BIOSEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

had  preceded  him.  The  following  year  the  Professor  of  Practical 
Medicine  tendered  his  resignation,  and  Professor  Davis  was  called  upon  to 
fill  the  vacancy.  This  position  he  occupied  until  his  connection  with  the 
College  ceased. 

His  earnest,  conscientious  discharge  of  public  duties  Avon  for  him 
something  more  than  the  respect  and  confidence  usually  given  to  medical 
teachers.  He  was  regarded  as  especially  the  friend  of  the  student,  he  bound 
to  them  and  they  to  him  by  personal  sympathy,  as  well  as  by  professional 
interest.  At  the  close  of  the  college  session  of  1852-3,  the  class  testified 
tlieir  appreciation  of  his  services  by  presenting  to  him  a  valuable  achro- 
matic microscope,  and  he  has  frequently  since  been  the  recipient  of 
testimonials  from  those  who  have  listened  to  his  instructions. 

In  1849,  Chicago,  as  in  fact  it  has  been  ever  since,  was  in  a  process  of 
development.  It  had  no  general  hospital,  no  system  of  sewerage,  no 
adequate  supply  of  good  water,  and  no  provision  for  the  temporarily 
destitute.  The  influx  of  foreign  population  was  rapid.  In  the  most  filthy 
condition,  consequent  upon  their  long  journey,  and  bringing  with  them 
the  germs  of  pestilence,  successive  ship  loads  were  deposited  in  our  midst. 
Dr.  Davis  at  once  entered  earnestly  ujion  the  work  of  organization.  In 
the  summer  of  1850,  he  delivered  a  course  of  six  lectures  upon  the 
sanitary  condition  of  the  city,  discussing  more  particularly  the  water 
supply  and  the  sewerage.  At  that  time  wells  but  a  few  feet  in  depth 
furnished  the  greater  portion  of  the  Avater  used  by  our  citizens.  This 
water  was  contaminated  by  organic  matter,  percolating  through  the  porous 
soil  above,  the  presence  of  which  in  water  used  for  drinking  and  culinary 
purposes  was  demonstrated  by  the  lecturer,  and  its  relation  to  the  diseases 
then  prevalent  in  the  city  fully  considered.  In  the  lectures  devoted  to 
the  sewerage  of  the  city,  not  only  the  necessity  of  thorough  drainage,  but, 
what  had  been  doubted  by  many,  the  practicability  of  it,  was  fully 
demonstrated.  These  lectures  were  delivered  in  the  old  State  Street 
jNIarket,  and  were  listened  to  by  many  of  our  most  prominent  citizens. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  they  had  much  to  do  in  arousing  public 
sentiment  on  these  subjects.  The  system  of  sewerage  therein  proposed 
was  essentially  the  same  as  that  subsequently  adopted. 

From  his  first  arrival  in  Chicago  to  the  present  time,  Dr.  Davis  has 
continued  to  manifest  an  active  interest  in  all  matters  of  public  hygiene, 
keeping  a  watchful  eye  upon  the  condition  of  our  streets  and  alleys,  and 
observing  carefully  the  type  and  distribution  of  disease.     The  evidence 


NATHAN   SMITH   DAVIS.  85 

of  his  untiring  industiy  and  perseverance  in  this  respect  will  be  found 
almost  monthly  in  the  records  of  our  local  medical  societies,  and  on  the 
pages  of  our  medical  journals. 

In  the  development  of  the  social  and  material  interests  of  the  city  he 
has  also  been  active.  He  early  became  associated  with  a  number  of  our 
citizens,  among  whom  we  may  mention  the  late  Stephen  Higginson, 
Charles  A)'alker,  Jonathan  Burr  and  Tuthill  King,  in  the  formation  and 
maintenance  of  an  organization,  of  which  he  was  the  secretary,  for  the 
systematic  relief  of  the  poor  of  the  city.  This  association  was  kept  up 
for  several  years,  accomplishing  an  immense  amount  of  good.  The  work 
was  finally  transferred  to  the  relief  department  of  the  "Young  Men's 
Christian  Association." 

His  views  upon  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  are  positive,  and  by 
many  deemed  even  fanatical.  No  man  has  labored  more  earnestly  or 
more  unremittingly  than  he  in  the  cause  of  temperance.  In  his  medical 
theory  and  practice,  in  his  didactic  lectures  in  the  colleges,  in  his  clinics 
at  the  hospital",  and  on  all  proper  public  occasions,  as  well  as  in  his  private 
relations,  with  a  courage  peculiarly  his  own  and  a  hopeftilness  with  which 
few  men  are  inspired,  he  has  battled  with  this  great  social  evil.  He  has 
not  restricted  his  efforts  to  prevention  alone,  but,  as  a  true  physician,  he 
has  sought  to  cure  confirmed  drunkards.  Following  the  example  of  older 
cities,  he  united  with  other  gentlemen  in  the  formation  of  the  "  Washing- 
tonian  Home,"  for  the  reclamation  and  reformation  of  inebriates.  His 
lectures  in  behalf  of  this  institution  and  before  its  inmates  have  done 
much  towards  securing  its  usefulness  and  gaining  for  it  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  public. 

In  1849,  Chicago  was  just  passing  through  an  epidemic  of  cholera. 
The  attention  of  the  public  had  been  directed  to  the  need  of  hospitals  for 
the  relief  of  the  sick  poor,  but  only  those  of  a  temporary  character  had 
thus  far  been  organized.  In  the  autumn  of  1850,  "The  Illinois  General 
Hospital  of  the  Lakes,"  an  institution  previously  chartered,  but  not  put 
in  operation,  was  opened  in  the  old  Lake  House.  Drs.  Davis  and 
J.  V.  Z.  Blaney  were  the  physicians,  and  the  late  Drs.  Daniel  Brainard  and 
William  B.  Herrick  were  the  surgeons.  The  twelve  beds  with  which 
the  wards  of  this  hospital  were  furnished  were  procured  from  the  proceeds 
of  the  lectures,  to  which  allusion  has  been  previously  made,  on  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  city.  Professor  Davis  M'as  the  teacher  of  clinical  medi- 
cines in  the  College,  and  he  immediately  entered  upon  his  work  in  the 


86  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

hospital.  In  the  spring  of  1851,  the  institution  was  transferred  to  the 
"Sisters  of  Merer,"  who  have  continued  its  management  uninterruptedly 
until  the  jjresent  time.  Dr.  Davis  has  had  charge  of  the  medical  Avards 
almost  continuously  during  the  seventeen  years  that  have  thus  elapsed, 
giving  from  two  to  four  clinical  lectures  during  at  least  eight  months  of 
each  year.  The  success  of  this  hospital  and  its  present  usefulness  have 
been,  to  a  great  extent,  due  to  the  eftbrts  of  its  chief  medical  officer. 

In  the  formation  and  support  of  our  local  and  State  medical  societies, 
he  has  always  taken  an  active  part.  The  present  "City  Medical  Society" 
was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1851,  as  the  "Cook  County  Medical 
Society,"  and  afterwards  changed  in  name  to  the  "Chicago  INIedical 
Society."  Dr.  Davis  w\as  one  of  its  originators,  and  has  continued  with- 
out interru])tion  an  active  participant  in  its  work  and  deliberations,  a  fact 
that  can  be  said  of  no  one  else  of  its  founders.  Indeed,  he  is  now  almost 
the  only  surviving  original  member.  In  the  summer  of  1850,  the 
"Illinois  State  Medical  Society "  was  organized,  and  we  find  his  name 
among  its  earliest  members.  For  the  last  nine  years  he  has  been  its 
permanent  Secretary.  Previously  he  had  served  as  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Practical  Medicine,  and  in  1855  he  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  President  for  the  ensuing  year.  Almost  every  volume  of  their 
transactions  contains  contributions  from  his  prolific  pen,  while  his  liberal 
hospitality  has  done  much  towards  promoting  good  fellowship  and  kindly 
feeling  among  its  members.  As  might  be  ex})ected  from  the  active  part 
he  took  in  the  formation  of  the  "American  Medical  Association,"  he  has 
always  continued  to  labor  earnestly  for  its  support  and  usefulness.  In 
1864,  at  their  meeting  in  New  York  city,  he  was  elected  to  the  Presidency, 
discharging  the  duties  of  this  office,  not  only  at  that  time  but  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Association  at  Boston,  during  the  following  year.  His  services 
in  this  connection  were  highly  satisfactory,  demonstrating  his  marked 
ability  as  an  executive  officer,  and  winning  for  him  hosts  of  friends.  At 
the  last  annual  meeting,  at  Baltimore,  he  was  among  the  most  active  and 
useful  of  its  members,  and,  in  addition  to  other  important  positions,  he 
was  made  chairman  of  a  committee,  consisting,  besides  hijnself,  of 
Drs.  S.  D.  Gross,  of  Philadelphia,  W.  Hooker,  of  New  Haven,  G.  C. 
Shattuck,  of  Boston,  and  M.  B.  Wright,  of  Cincinnati,  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  a  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the  medical 
colleges  of  the  United  States,  with  a  view  to  improvement  in  modes  of 
teaching,  etc.      From  the  incipiency  of  the  Association  he  has  been  an 


NATITAN    SMITH    DAVIH.  87 

earnest  advocate  of  medical  progress,  and  \ve  find  him  in  this  last  act 
moved  bv  the  same  tlu)ll^•ht  that  stimulated  his  earlier  struggles  in  the 
"  New  York  State  Medical  Society." 

As  a  citizen,  Dr.  Davis  has  rei)eatedly  held  positions  of  trust  and  con- 
fidence. He  served  for  one  terra  as  a  member  of  the  "Board  of  Refjrm 
School  Commissioners."  He  was  also  one  of  the  earlier  members  of  tJK; 
"Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Northwestern  University/'  located  at  Evanston, 
assisting  actively  in  putting  it  into  operation.  His  connection  with  the 
"Rush  INIedical  College"  continued  for  nearly  ten  years,  and  during  almost 
the  whole  of  that  period  he  filled  the  chair  of  "Practical  and  Clinical 
Medicine,"  serving  also  as  Secretary  of  the  College. 

In  the  spring  of  1859,  the  "Chicago  Medical  College"  was  organized 
upon  a  plan  more  in  accordance  with  the  views  previously  advocated  by 
Dr.  Davis,  and  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  occu])y,  in  the  new  institution, 
a  chair  substantially  the  same  as  that  which  he  had  previously  filled. 
Upon  the  organization  of  the  College  under  the  general  incorporation  law 
of  the  State,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  upon 
the  resignation  of  Professor  Johnson,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  he  Avas  elected 
President  of  the  Faculty.  This  institution  is  largely  indebted  to  him  for 
pecuniary  assistance,  to  tlie  amount  of  several  thousand  dollars,  by  which 
it  has  been  entirely  freed  from  ii/s  indebtedness.  He  has  also  contributed 
largely  to  its  valuable  library. 

It  lias  been  already  stated  that  he  commenced,  while  residing  in  New 
York,  the  publication  of  a  medical  journal.  On  coming  to  the  West,  he 
gave  at  once  his  hearty  support  to  its  medical  literature,  contributing 
frequently  to  the  "Northwestern  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal."  In 
1855,  he  became  one  of  its  editors,  and  subsequently  assumed  its  entire 
control.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  "Chicago  Medical  College,"  he 
transferred  his  interest  in  this  journal  to  the  late  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  and 
commenced  the  publication  of  the  "Chicago  Medical  Examiner,"  a  monthly 
of  sixty-four  pages,  of  which  he  is  now  the  sole  editor  and  proprietor. 

Although  not  especially  devoted  to  science,  except  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
medicine,  he  has  nevertheless  heartily  sympathized  with  and  encouraged 
the  formation  and  maintenance  of  scientific  associations.  He  was  one  of 
the  original  members  of  the  "Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and  still 
retains  his  membership,  frequently  participating  in  its  discussions.  He 
was,  also,  if  not  one  of  the  original,  certainly  one  of  the  earlier,  resident 
members  of  the  "Chicago  Historical  Society." 


88  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

As  a  man,  Dr.  Davis  is  endowed  by  nature  with  an  organization  both 
physical  and  mental,  capable  of  great  endurance.  His  form  is  slight,  but 
symmetrical  and  muscular.  His  health  has  been  uniformly  good  for  the 
last  thirty  years,  and  he  has  not  been  confined  to  the  house  at  any  one 
time  more  than  three  days  in  succession.  His  habits  are  regular,  both 
as  to  eating  and  sleeping.  He  has  never  used  alcoholic  drinks  in  any 
form,  or  for  any  purpose  whatever. 

His  intellectual  characteristics  are  well  marked,  and  are  such  as 
especially  fit  him  for  the  profession  to  which  he  has  devoted  his  life.  It 
is  particularly  in  his  powers  of  observation  that  he  is  pre-eminent. 
Nothing  in  the  history  of  a  patient  escapes  him.  All  the  antecedents, 
such  as  occupations,  climatic  exposures,  mental  and  emotional  states, 
hereditary  tendencies,  tein])eraments  and  personal  peculiarities,  are  thor- 
oughly and  carefully  investigated.  This  quality  of  his  mind  is  especially 
manifested  in  liis  clinical  lectures.  His  reasoning  powers  are  good,  his 
logic  usually  convincing,  always  carrying  with  it  the  impression  that  he  is 
thoroughly  and  conscientiously  in  earnest.  His  comparisons  are  quick,  and 
his  judgments  reliable.  His  acquaintance  witli  the  literature  of  his  profes- 
sion is  extensive  and  accurate,  and  especially  so  fiu^  as  it  relates  to  the 
history  of  medical  education.  As  a  teacher,  he  is  enthusiastic;  a  skillful 
debater,  and  a  prolific  writer.  Indeed,  we  should  say  that  he  both  s[)eaks 
and  writes  too  much.  During  some  of  the  college  sessions  he  has  deliv- 
ered ten  didactic  and  clinical  lectures  weekly,  for  several  months  in 
succession.  The  subject  matter  of  his  lectures  is  always  interesting,  and 
no  teacher  is  listened  to  Avith  more  ]iatience,  or  followed  Avith  a  greater 
degree  of  enthusiasm.  He  is  genial  in  his  nature,  and  both  at  the  bed- 
side of  his  patients  and  in  the  social  circle  his  ])leasant  smile  and  kindly 
voice  inspire  confidence  and  beget  friendship. 

The  influence  and  example  of  Dr.  Davis  have  always  been  on  the  side 
of  virtue  and  good  morals.  Since  his  sixteenth  year  he  has  been  a 
constant  member  of  some  branch  of  the  Methodist  Church,  taking  an 
active  part  generally  in  sustaining  all  moral  and  religious  institutions. 
His  public,  and  especially  his  private  charities,  have  been  large  and 
continuous.  With  a  practice  larger  and  more  lucrative,  perhaps,  than 
that  of  any  other  member  of  the  profession  in  the  West,  he  never  refuses 
the  call  of  the  sick  poor.  There  are  thousands  in  our  midst  struggling 
Avith  Avant,  and  heart-sick  with  hope  deferred,  to  Avhora  the  remembrance 
of  his  generous  kindness   brings   a   thrill    of  grateful    pleasure.      It  is 


NATHAN    SMITH    DAVIS.  89 

believed  that  in  a  profession  extending  through  more  than  thirty  years, 
he  has  never  declined  to  prescribe  for  or  assist  a  patient  simply  because 
too  poor  to  pay  a  fee. 

A  more  thorough  literary  and  scientific  education  in  early  life  would 
undoubtedly  have  added  to  his  power  of  usefulness ;  but  with  all  his  dis- 
advantages it  is  not  perhaps  too  much  to  say  of  him,  that  he  stands 
among  the  very  first  of  his  profession  in  this  country.  This  prominence, 
however,  has  been  reached  by  unremitting  toil  and  unwearied  effort.  By 
defeat  he  has  not  been  discoura-ged,  by  success  not  unduly  elated.  Upon 
thousands  of  young  men  who  have  listened  to  his  teaching  the  lesson  of 
his  life,  "Omnia  labors,"  will  not  be  without  its  power  and  influence.  He 
is  yet  in  vigorous  health,  and  there  is  before  him  the  promise  of  years  of 
usefulness  and  honor. 

Among  the  published  writings  of  Dr.  Davis,  which  we  have  not 
already  named,  not  including  his  contributions  to  the  medical  journals  of 
the  day,  are  the  following : 

"  A  Text-Book  on  Agriculture,  designed  for  Study  in  Schools,"  pub- 
lished by  S.  S.  &  W.  Wood,  201  Pearl  Street,  New  York,  1848. 

"History  of  Medical  Education  and  Institutions  in  the  United  States, 
from  the  first  settlement  of  the  British  Provinces  to  the  year  1850;  witii 
a  chapter  on  the  present  condition  and  wants  of  the  profession,  and  the 
means  necessary  for  supplying  those  wants."  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co., 
publishers,  Chicago,  1851. 

"An  Experimental  Inquiry  concerning  some  points  in  the  Functions 
of  Assimilation,  Nutrition,  and  Animal  Heat ;  also.  Analysis  of  the  Blood 
of  the  Renal  Artery  and  Vein,  and  that  of  the  Eliac  Artery  and  Vein 
of  the  same  animal ;"  read  to  the  American  Medical  Association,  in  May, 
1851,  and  published  in  the  "Northwestern  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal "   for  that  year. 

"A  Lecture  on  the  Effects  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on  the  Human  System, 
and  the  duties  of  Medical  Men  in  Relation  Thereto,"  delivered  in  the 
Lecture  Room  of  Rush  Medical  College,  Dec.  25,  1854;  with  an  appen- 
dix containing  original  experiments  in  relation  to  the  effects  of  alcohol 
on  respiration  and  animal  heat.     J.  F.  Ballantyne,  printer,  Chicago,  1855. 

"  History  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  from  its  Organization 
to  January,  1855;"  to  which  is  appended  biographical  notices,  with 
portraits  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Association,  and  of  the  author.  Phila- 
delphia :  Lippincott,  Grambo  &  Co.     1855. 


JOHN  M.  VAN  OSDEL. 


In 'dwelling  upon  the  peculiar  experiences  of  our  pioneers,  Me  are  but 
tracing  the  early  history  of  Chicago  through  new  and  more  interesting 
channels  than  would  be  possible  if  the  facts  Avere  divested  of  personal 
interest.  In  older  cities,  tomb-stones  of  the  early  settlers  are  overgrown 
with  moss,  but  with  us,  who  live  in  a  city  which  is  still  the  child  of  an 
hour,  our  remotest  past  is  freighted  with  remembrances  of  the  deeds  of 
men  still  active  among  us.  Prominent  in  this  list  of  those  who  have 
Avitnessed  the  growth  of  Chicago  and  contributed  largely  towards  its 
greatness,  is  the  name  of  John  M.  Van  Osdel,  which  Avill  ever  be  closely 
linked  with  that  of  the  Garden  City.  Coming  here  Avhen  it  was  little 
more  than  "the  village  of  Mudfog,"  he  Avas  the  first  to  introduce  a  style  of 
building  Avorthy  of  the  metropolis  then  in  clirysalis;  and  the  high  order 
of  architecture  which  characterizes  this  city  is  largely  due  to  his  influence. 

Mr.  Van  Osdel  Avas  born  in  Baltimore,  July  31st,  1811.  In  his 
childhood  there  Avas  nothing  Avorthy  of  special  note.  His  father,  James 
H.  Van  Osdel,  Avas  a  carpenter;  not  a  mere  "Snug,  the  joiner,"  but  a 
master  builder,  and  as  he 

"Groined  his  arches  and  matched  his  beams," 

the  sun  early  became  his  almost  constant  companion.  From  his  after 
course,  Ave  can  readily  imagine  that  the  boy  Avas  no  listless  looker  on.  To 
him,  the  AA'orkshop  was  a  school-room,  and  the  click  of  the  hammer,  the 
hum  of  the  saw,  and  even  the  very  sight  and  touch  of  tools,  were  text- 
books and  tutors.  It  Avas,  however,  adverse  yet  favorable  circumstances 
which  gave  young  Van  Osdel  a  start  in  life,  and  to  which  he  is  eminently 
indebted  for  the  high  position  to  which  he  has  attained  in  his  i»rolt'ssion. 


92  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Ill  the  spring  of  1825,  when  he  was  only  in  his  fourteenth  year,  his 
father  moved  to  New  York  city,  leaving  his  family  in  Baltimore.  At 
first,  all  went  smoothly  at  home,  the  father's  remittances  being  ample  for 
the  family  needs,  but  soon  there  came  a  change.  Meeting  with  a  severe 
accident,  he  was  so  badly  injured  that  he  was  entirely  disabled  for  labor. 
The  brave,  true  mother  struggled  against  poverty,  exhausting  the  resources 
of  her  fertile  ingenuity  in  attempts  to  eke  out  a  support  for  her  family  of 
eight  children.  For  some  time  her  lal:)ors  and  privations  were  not 
specially  noticed  ])y  John,  who  was  her  eldest  son,  but,  after  a  while  the 
lad  realized  the  situation,  and  at  once  set  about  relieving  his  overtasked 
mother. 

With  the  fertility  of  invention  and  skill  in  handicraft  which,  in  after 
years,  enabled  him  to  make  some  of  our  public  buildings  and  private 
residences  models  of  architecture,  he  undertook  the  support  of  the  family. 
His  first  move  was  to  buy  a  pine  board  on  credit.  This  board  he  made 
up  into  benches,  or  stools,  which  he  peddled  off  among  his  neighbors. 
Trebling  his  money,  he  was  able  to  buy  two  more  boards,  besides 
paying  for  the  first  one.  From  this  small  beginning  he  went  on,  making 
not  only  benches  but  clothes-horses  and  similar  specimens  of  handi- 
craft, until  he  soon  entirely  relieved  his  mother  from  the  burden 
of  supporting  the  femily.  This  first  lesson  in  self-dependence  was, 
doubtless,  of  inestimable  benefit  to  him.  It  may  well  be  doubted  if  any 
course  of  mere  mental  training  could  have  been  of  as  much  service  to  him 
as  were  those  few  months  of  his  father's  illness.  The  mechanical  skill 
which  he  acquired  was  of  no  special  value  to  him,  but  he  learned 
self-reliance,  which  is  one  of  the  prime  conditions  of  success  in  any 
department  of  effort.  If  as  a  lad,  just  entering  his  teens,  and  with  no 
capital  whatever,  he  could  support  the  family  of  nine,  as  he  did  for  more 
than  four  months,  what  had  he  to  fear  in  the  future?  The  prophet  but 
gave  the  lesson  of  experience  when  he  said,  "it  is  good  for  a  man  that  he 
bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth." 

Upon  the  recovery  of  the  father,  the  family  moved  to  New  York. 
The  son  had  shown  himself  so  eminently  useful  while  alone,  that  he  began 
now  to  work  regularly  with  his  father  at  his  trade.  Nothing  of  special 
interest  occurred  until  he  Mas  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  a  new 
world  was  opened  before  him.  Learning,  by  chance,  of  the  existence  and 
rules  of  "The  Apprentice  Library,"  he  took  the  necessary  steps  to  enjoy 
its  benefits.      For    two   years   he    spent   all   his  spare  moments  in  the 


JOHN  M.  VAN  osdp:l.  93 

company  of  books.  Followiiii^  tlie  bent  of  his  genius,  be  confined 
himself  abnost  excbisively  to  works  on  architecture,  becoming  a  thorough 
master  of  the  art.  Not  content  with  the  careful  reading  of  these  Morks, 
he  i^atiently  copied  all  their  designs.  In  this  way  he  came  to  l)e  a  profi- 
cient in  the  art  of  drawing,  which  he  turned  to  account,  not  only  in  the 
practice  of  his  daily  labor  as  an  architect,  but  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
opened  an  evening  school  of  instruction  in  drawing,  which  proved  to  be 
quite  profitable.  It  is  to  that  library  that  JMr.  Van  Osdel  regards  himself 
mainly  indebted  for  his  success  in  life. 

AVhen  he  reached  the  age  of  seventeen,  his  mother  died  and  the  family 
was  broken  up.  At  eighteen  he  became  his  own  master,  paying  his  father 
three  dollars  per  week  for  his  time.  Besides  doing  this,  he  supported  his 
sister.  After  the  first  year,  his  father  released  him  from  his  obligations, 
giving  him  his  time.  He  soon  after  returned  to  Baltimore,  and  engaged 
in  business  as  an  architect  and  builder.  In  1832,  he  married  Caroline 
Gailer,  of  Hudson,  Xew  York.  During  the  following  year  he  commenced 
tlie  publication  of  a  work  on  practical  house  carpentry  and  stair  building, 
known  as  the  "  Carpenter's  Own  Book."  Owing  to  the  dishonesty  of  his 
principal  agent,  however,  its  publication  was  soon  discontinued. 

In  the  autumn  of  1836,  Mr.  Van  Osdel,  having  returned  to  Xew 
York,  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Hon.  William  B.  Ogden,  of  tliis  eitv, 
wliich  resulted  in  his  removal  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Og-den  at  first  eniraired 
his  services  simply  as  a  master  builder,  but  soon  found  that  he  was  evcrv 
way  competent  for  the  responsibilities  of  an  architect,  and  engaged  him  to 
design,  as  well  as  construct,  a  residence  for  him  in  this  city.  The  Jiouse 
which  he  built  on  Ontario  street,  the  following  season,  Avas  for  several 
years  the  best  in  tlie  city,  and  is  still  occupied  by  ]\Ir.  Ogden. 

Mr.  Van  Osdel  also  turned  his  attention  to  ship  joinery,  and  to  liiin 
belongs  the  honor  of  having  done  the  finishing  of  tlie  first  vessels  that 
were  l)uilt  in  Chicago,  being  the  two  steamboats  "James  Allen"  and 
"  George  W.  Dole."  Our  lake  commerce  Avas  a  mere  trifle  at  that  time, 
l)Ut  it  had  begun  to  give  promise  of  its  gigantic  future.  In  1838,  he 
constructed  several  large  pumps  on  the  Archimedean  screw  princijile,  for 
the  ])urpose  of  lifting  water  out  of  the  excavations  then  in  jn-ogress  for 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  During  the  following  winter,  Mr. 
Van  Osdel  invented  a  horizontal  wind-wheel,  which  was  extensively 
used  in  working  these  canal  pumi)s. 

Although  he  had  the  best  class  of  business  which  the  Chicago  of  (liat 


94  BIOGRAPHICAL.  SKETCHES. 

day  afforded  in  liis  line,  he  decided,  in  the  autumn  of  1840,  on  account 
of  the  declining  health  of  his  wife,  to  return  to  New  York.  The  publi- 
cation to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  ("  The  Carpenter's  Own  Book  "), 
had  given  him  an  enviable  reputation,  which  now  turned  to  his  account. 
The  "American  Mechanic"  (now  the  "Scientific  American")  offered  him 
an  inviting  field  as  associate  editor.  AVe  notice,  in  examining  the  files  of 
the  "American  Mechanic,"  that  an  editorial,  published  some  time  after  his 
connection  with  that  journal  had  ceased,  says,  in  a  historical  sketch,  that 
"  IMr.  Van  Osdel  performed  with  marked  ability  his  part  of  the  editorial 
labors." 

Confinement  in  the  sanctum  proving  detrimental  to  his  health,  his  star 
of  fortune  again  took  its  way  westward,  never  resting  until  it  stood  over 
the  metropolis  of  the  West,  where  it  has  ever  since  remained. 

The  first  important  work  in  which  he  engaged  on  his  return  to 
Chicago,  which  was  in  the  spring  of  1841,  was  the  erection  of  grain 
elevators.     Here,  too,  he  was  the  pioneer. 

In  1843,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  Elihn  Granger,  in  the  iron 
foundry  and  machine  business.  This  partnership  continued  until  Feb- 
ruary, 1845.  His  wife  dying  at  that  time,  and  his  own  health  being 
imp;iired  by  overwork,  he  was  advised  by  the  leading  builders  to  devote 
his  time  to  architecture,  they  pledging  him  their  support.  He  therefore 
opened  an  office  on  Clark  street,  over  IMrs.  Bostwick's  millinery  store, 
preciselv  where  is  now  the  main  entrance  to  the  Sherman  House.  His 
receipts  during  the  first  year  were  only  five  hundred  dollars,  although  he 
did  all  the  business  of  the  kind  which  there  was  to  be  done  in  the  city. 
As  the  city  grew,  and  his  skill  as  an  architect  became  more  widely 
known,  his  business  increased,  until  his  net  profits  for  the  three  years 
en«ling  in  1859  were  thirty-two  thousand  dollars. 

To  enumerate  all  the  public  buildings,  private  residences,  and  exten- 
sive mercantile  blocks,  which  were  designed  by  JNIr.  Van  Osdel,  and  built 
under  his  superintendence,  would  be  to  give  a  long  list,  including  many 
of  the  best  edifices,  not  only  of  Chicago,  but  of  Illinois.  We  will  only 
mention,  as  specimens,  the  Cook  County  Court  House,  the  Chicago  City 
Hall,  the  Tremont  House,  all  the  five-story  iron-front  buildings  in  the 
city,  being  over  eleven  hundred  lineal  feet  of  such  frontage;  the  residence 
of  Peter  Schuttler,  corner  of  Adams  and  Aberdeen  streets,  Chicago;  the 
residences  of  ex-Governors  Matteson,  of  Springfield,  and  Wood,  of  Quincy 
— the  three  finest  residences  in  the  State. 


JOHN    M.  VAN  OSDEL.  95 

Mr.  Van  Osdel  has  accumulated  an  ample  fortune;  lie  Las  not  suffered 
himself,  however,  to  be  placed  upon  the  retired  list,  but  is  to-day  one  of 
the  most  active  men  in  the  city.  He  is  at  present  architect  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  State  Penitentiary.  His  re})ort  on  the  i)roij;rcss  of  the  Avork, 
Avith  estimates  of  work  done,  and  to  be  done,  received  the  unanimous 
approval  of  the  last  General  Assembly  of  Illinois,  which  pointed  him 
out  as  the  architect  best  deserving  a  place  among  the  Trustees  of  the 
Illinois  Industrial  College,  located  at  Champaign.  He  was  elected  by 
the  Board  as  a  member  of  the  Finance  and  Executive  Committees,  also 
of  the  Committee  on  Buildings  and  Grounds,  three  of  the  most 
important  committees  of  the  Board.  Mr.  Van  Osdel  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  having  a  Polytechnic  School  estal)lished  at  Chicago,  as  a 
branch  of  the  Industrial  University,  of  which  he  is  Treasurer. 

Politically,  Mr.  Van  Osdel,  true  to  his  pioneer  instincts,  was  a  Gar- 
risonian  Abolitionist.  For  many  years  his  vote  was  called  "  scattering," 
but  in  1860  he  ranged  himself  with  the  Repul)lican  party.  He  took  a 
very  active  part  in  that  campaign,  preparing  and  publishing,  at  his  own  cost, 
ten  thousand  copies  of  a  short  but  comprehensive  address,  combating  with 
signal  ability  the  issue  presented  by  both  wings  of  the  Democracy.  He 
also  wrote  several  poems  suitable  to  the  times,  which  possessed  much 
merit.  He  has  never  held  any  political  office,  although  he  has  had 
several  important  nominations  tendered  him,  all  of  which  he  refused. 

Mr.  Van  Osdel  married  for  his  second  wife  Martha,  the  daughter 
of  James  McClellan,  Esq.,  of  Kendall  coimty,  of  this  State,  who  is  still 
the  sharer  of  his  prosperity.  He  has  no  children  except  by  adoption.  His 
present  residence,  at  No.  107  South  Morgan  street,  built  at  a  cost  of 
eighteen  thousand  dollars,  is  a  model  of  neatness  and  convenience. 

As  it  is  always  of  interest  to  climb  a  fimily  tree,  we  will  add  tliat 
Mr.  Van  Osdel  traces  his  ancestry  back  to  1653  in  this  country,  and  in 
Holland  to  the  year  1211.  The  family  derive  their  origin  from  Jan 
Van  Arsdale,  knight  of  Holland,  who  in  1211  erected  the  castle,  now 
county  house,  Arsdale,  from  which  he  took  his  name.  His  armorial 
bearings  now  constitute  the  public  arms  of  the  l)ailiwick  of  Arsdale. 
From  him  descended  Lyman  Jansen  Van  Arsdalen,  as  his  signature  is, 
who  emigrated  to  New  Amsterdam  in  1653,  and  located  at  Fhit  Land, 
Long  Island.  This  founder  of  all  the  American  Van  Arsdales  and  Van 
Osdels  died  in  1710,  leaving  two  sons,  Cornelius  and  John.  From  the 
latter  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  descended. 


^ 


JOHN  y.  FARWELL. 


One  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  merchant  philanthropists  of  the 
Northwest  is  he  whose  liistory  we  now  undertake  to  write.  Nor  are 
there  many  among  the  noted  in  any  branch  of  commerce  whose  life  is 
more  interesting  as  to  incident,  or  more  fruitful  in  lessons  of  profit  for 
ambitious  beginners  in  a  mercantile  career. 

JoHX  Y.  Faewell  is  the  son  of  Henry  and  Xancy  Farwell,  who,  at 
the  time  of  his  birth,  July  29,  1825,  lived  upon  a  flirm  in  Steuben  County, 
New  York.  They  were  plain  and  plodding  people,  but  none  in  the  State 
were  their  superiors  in  honesty  and  industry.  They  were  persons,  also, 
of  candor  and  intelligence,  and  were  held  in  uninterrupted  esteem  by 
their  neighbors  and  acquaintances.  With  fi.ve  children  drawing  upon 
the  family  exchequer,  and  nothing  but  the  meagre  profits  of  a  small  farm 
with  which  to  honor  their  drafts,  perseverance  was  indispensable,  and 
hard  toil  inevitable. 

According  to  a  custom  which  prevails  in  agricultural  communities, 
John  Y.,  who  was  the  third  born  of  the  four  brothers,  as  soon  as  he  was 
sufficiently  grown,  spent  his  summers  in  manual  labor,  and  his  winters  in 
the  district  school.  Thus,  did  he  educate  both  body  and  mind,  until  the 
thirteenth  year  of  his  age;  the  one  acquired  power  of  endurance,  the 
other  information,  and  both  secured  a  discipline  which  was  of  the 
highest  consequence  in  after  lite.  The  foundations  of  enduring  health 
were  laid,  and  the  essentials  of  a  good  education  acquired.  The  boy  grew 
vigorous  and  intelligent.  He  gave  evidence,  even  at  this  early  age,  of  that 
capacity  for  achievement  for  which  he  has  since  become  distinguished. 
He  was  the  projector  and  the  prime  worker  in  the  erection  of  the  fii-st 
brick  house  in  the  county,  and  in  similar  enterprises  he  showed  the  grit 
which  he  possessed. 


98  lUOGRAPHlCAl.   SKETCHES. 

Thus  thirteen  years  of  his  life  ])asse(l  away,  and  the  mode  of  life 
followed  in  Steuben  County,  New  York,  was  resumed  in  Ogle  County, 
Illinois,  whither  the  family  removed  in  18.'38.  Here,  however,  hardships 
multiplied.  The  eounlry  was  new,  the  farm  an  unbroken  prairie.  Agri- 
culture was  in  its  incipiency.  It  was  ''frontier  life"  of  the  most  toilsome 
and  wearisome  description;  none  may  realize  how  much  so  but  those  who 
have  experienced  it. 

In  1841,  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  young  Farwell  entered  the  M(Mnit 
^Morris  Si'minary,  and  there  finished  his  e([ui})ment  in  the  way  of  educa- 
tion. If  his  wardrobe  was  not  eipial  in  quality  to  that  of  some  of  his 
schoolmates,  he  had  brains,  which,  both  in  <piantity  and  quality,  were 
excellcv^  by  none,  and  ecpialled  by  fi'W,  in  t\\v  institution.  He  was  poor 
in  this  world's  goods,  but  riih  in  those  qualities  and  fiiculties  which  render 
worldlv  possessions  easy  of  acc^uisition.  And  this  is  the  princijxil  thing. 
The  liiculty  by  which  riches  are  ac»piired  is  of  more  value  by  far  than  the 
riches  themselves.  The  vicissitudes  of  commerce  may  give  riches  wings, 
in  spite  of  the  wisest  etfort.s  to  retain  them,  but  the  talents  by  which  they 
were  secured  have  lost  none  of  their  virtut'  or  vigor.  Man  is  greater  than 
his  j)ossessions. 

The  farmer's  bov  was  treated  witli  contumely  by  the  sons  (»f  the  rich. 
Thev  afleeted  sui)eriority  over  the  lad  in  homespun  who  brought  the 
odor  of  the  fields  to  tlic  school  room.  The  white  hand  of  luxury  repelled 
the  brown  hand  of  toil.  The  aristocracy  of  clothes  disdained  association 
with  the  aristocracy  of  brains.  For,  in  this  case,  as  in  many  a  similar 
one,  the  l)oy  with  the  brown  liands  wa.s  the  ranking  boy  of  the  school, 
and  grew  to  be  the  liest  man  that  came  out  of  it.  Farwell  was  too 
s|)irited  to  be  trodden  on,  and  of  too  high  a  calil)re  to  be  easily  excelled. 
The  embryo  snobs  had  their  laugh  for  their  pains.  They  soon  quit  their 
merriment  and  left  off  their  sneers.  Their  supercilious  glances  rebounded 
from  the  target,  and  reacted  upon  those  who  flung  them. 

Having  received  the  a})pointmcnt  of  editor  of  the  Seminary  paper, 
the  "city  boys"  sought  to  entrap  him  by  giving  him  to  read  pieces  of 
composition  that  had  been  read  liefore.  Instead  of  doing  so,  however,  he 
read  those  who  contributed  them  such  a  lecture  as  "brought  down  the 
house"  in  applause,  and  carried  mortification  to  the  ranks  of  the  juvenile 
aristocrats. 

It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  made 
his  resolve,  and  fixed  upon  his  career,     A  few  pebbles  in  the  brook  may 


JOHN   V.  FARWELL.  99 

cliange  the  direction  of  the  stream.  The  most  trifling  events  make  destiny 
for  men.  The  jeers  of  his  school-fellows  had  much  to  do  in  fashionincr 
the  future  of  this  farmer's  boy,  with  his  quickness  of  wit  and  sturdiness 
of  purpose.  He  could  write  well;  he  always  knew  his  lessons;  he  had  a 
high  place  in  his  class,  and  kept  it.  He  was  too  poor  to  board  in  the 
institution;  he  boarded  himself  and  by  himself  It  was  not  easy  to 
"make  the  two  ends  meet,"  but  he  did  it.  And,  with  all  his  hardships 
and  harassments,  he  used  to  walk  among  his  school-fellows,  thinking  to 
himself  how  one  day  he  would  "buy  them  all,"  as  the  phrase  is,  "without 
missing  the  money."  They  might  be  content  with  an  inheritance,  he 
would  transmit  one.  They  might  be  satisfied  to  mope  along  a-hold  of  the 
apron  strings;  he  would  be  leader  and  not  follower,  benefactor  and  not 
beneficiary. 

He  mastered  the  practical  and  elementary  branches  with  his  eye  upon 
a  life  of  business,  and  a  will  bent  upon  excelling  in  it.  He  learned  book- 
keeping and  taught  it.  He  was  expert  in  figures  and  ready  with  the 
])encil,  whether  in  mathematics  or  composition.  He  had  considerable 
versatility  of  genius,  and  made  it  a  point  to  so  equip  himself  as  to  be 
equal  to  whatever  might  turn  up  in  the  way  of  employment  when  he 
should  make  his  appearance  on  the  stage  of  affairs. 

And  his  heart  was  as  good  as  his  head  was  clear.  At  fourteen  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  While  yet  in  his 
teens,  and  simply  dreaming  of  what  he  would  come  to,  full  of  manly 
pride  that  met  the  coxcomb's  disdain  with  a  nobler  disdain  of  his  own,  he 
had  thoughts  of  doing  good  as  well  as  getting  gain. 

In  the  spring  of  1845,  he  left  off  his  books  and  came  to  Chicago  with 
exactly  three  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  in  his  pocket,  working  his 
passage  on  a  load  of  wheat.  The  road  was  a  canal  of  mud.  Driver  and 
passenger  frequently  had  to  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  or  their 
hands  to  the  lever.  They  made  their  ninety-five  miles  in  four  days, 
without  losing  their  temper  or  calling  upon  Hercules,  who,  if  he  w^ere  a 
witness  of  the  spectacle,  must  have  wondered  afterwards  as  he  saw  in  the 
affluent  merchant  the  youth  who  pryed  tlie  load  of  wlieat  out  of  the 
prairie  mud.  Reaching  Chicago,  he  drifted  into  the  City  Clerk's  office  and 
got  employment  at  twelve  dollars  per  month.  He  reported  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Common  Council  at  two  dollars  per  report.  His  services  were 
valuable.  He  could  give  a  faithful  transcript  of  the  City  Fathers'  doings, 
and  make  it  readable  withal.     But  he  was  too  faithful  for  his  own  interest. 


!(){)  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  sensitiveness  of  public  bodies  is  proverbial.  Common  CVmneils 
are  no  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  No  body  of  men  are  more  averse 
to  criticism,  while  there  are  none  more  open  to  it.  They  have  enough 
sense  of  dignity  to  make  themselves  uncomfortable,  and  not  enough  to  put 
them  at  their  ease.  They  occupy  an  uncertain  position  as  to  consequence 
and  rank,  and  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  fact,  and  are,  therefore,  naturally 
annoyed  by  it.  The  very  uncertainty  of  their  importance  keeps  them 
morbidly  on  guard  lest  their  unimportance  be  made  certain.  The  very 
gravity  of  such  a  body  is  provocative  of  mirth,  while  its  affectation  of 
wisdom  is  sure  to  be  the  thin  disguise  of  anuising  folly. 

The  Common  Council  that  Mr.  Farwell  reported  for  was  a  Council  of 
this  sort.  He  tried  to  be  grave  with  them,  but  could  not.  His  sense  of 
tlie  ludicrous  got  the  better  of  his  prudence.  He  could  not  refrain  from 
making  the  City  Fathers  read  in  the  paper  as  they  sounded  in  the 
chamber.  He  did  so.  And  the  case  was  one  in  which  truth  was  more 
ludicrous  than  fiction.  The  town  was  entertained  as  it  often  is  over  the 
proceedings  of  those  who  sit  in  counsel  (tver  its  streets  and  alleys.  But 
what  was  fun  to  the  town  was  mortification  to  the  Councilmen,  and 
decapitation  to  their  reporter. 

But  before  being  spurned  from  the  official  presence  of  the  City  Fathers, 
Mr.  Farwell  engaged  himself  as  book-keeper  in  the  dry  goods  establish- 
ment of  Messrs.  Hamilton  &  AV'hite,  at  eight  dollars  per  month,  for  one 
year,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  offered  better  wages  and  better 
prospects  by  the  house  of  Messrs.  Handin  &  Day,  and  thither  he  went,  on 
a  salary  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  annum.  From  there  he 
went  into  the  employ  of  Messrs.  Wadsworth  &  Phelps,  dry  goods  mer- 
chants, where  his  Avages  were  six  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

.Vnd  yet,  small  as  was  the  first  year's  salary  in  Chicago,  one  half  of  it 
went  to  the  church  of  which  Mr.  Farwell  w^as  a  member — an  act  of  rare 
self-sacrifice,  but  as  much  the  nature  of  the  man  as  his  eating  or  his  sleep- 
ing. The  leaven  of  benevolence  was  working  within  him.  He  felt  the 
oblio-ations  of  his  consecration.  He  rose  to  a  realization  of  his  steward- 
ship.  He  was  not  his  own.  What  he  had  he  held  in  trust.  AVhat  he 
acquired  he  acquired  for  a  purpose.  He  had  an  aim  in  earning.  His 
means  were  to  be  means  to  an  end.  He  had  a  high  motive  in  wanting  to 
be  rich.  He  wanted  to  make  money  that  he  might  make  happiness  with 
it.  He  Mould  add  to  his  own  happiness  by  adding  to  that  of  his  fellow- 
beings.      The  two  potent  ideas,  benevolence  and   acquisitiveness,  were 


JOHN    V.   FARWELL,  101 

married  witliiii  him,  and  lie  felt  lifted  by  their  partnership  into  a  grand 
ambition.  With  snch  convictions  and  such  aspirations,  Mr.  Farwell 
seized  the  handles  of  the  plow  of  fortune,  and  never  looked  back  until  he 
had  followed  it  to  affluence. 

His  aptness  for  business  was  soon  apparent.  He  had  skill  in  trading, 
in  managing  and  in  planning,  and  energy  adequate  to  the  carrying  out  of 
his  plans. 

Besides  this,  he  was  one  of  the  few  who  realized  the  possibilities  of 
the  Northwest,  and  fully  foresaw  the  destiny  of  Chicago.  AVhile  others 
conjectured,  he  was  convinced ;  while  others  stood  by,  wondering  whether 
to  invest,  he  went  forward  and  proved  his  faith  by  his  works,  and  a  great, 
high  faith  he  had  in  this  city  and  this  section  when  he  became  a  i3artner 
in  the  firm  he  had  served  as  a  salesman.  His  hand  was  felt  upon  the 
helm  immediately,  and  his  word  had  weight  in  the  councils  of  the  concern. 
That  was  in  1851,  when  the  house  did  a  business  of  about  $100,000  per 
annum.  Its  business  now  foots  up  $10,000,000.  The  entire  dry  goods 
commerce  of  the  city  had  a  new  impetus  under  the  leadership  of 
Mr.  Farwell.  For  lead  he  did,  with  such  boldness  as  to  confound  the 
wisdom  of  the  wise  in  trade,  and  to  make  the  most  enterprising  among 
them  shake  their  heads  in  an  admonitory  fashion. 

In  1856,  through  Mr.  Farwell's  irresistible  persistency,  the  wholesale 
mart  on  Wabash  Avenue  was  built,  now  occupied  by  the  firm  of 
John  V.  Farwell  &  Co.,  which,  after  several  changes,  came  to  be  the 
name  of  the  firm  in  1865.  The  enterprise  was  stoutly  opposed  by  the 
oldest  member  of  what  was  then  the  firm,  and  was  set  down  by  the 
longest  heads  in  the  city  as  a  project  that  must  bring  its  owners  to  ruin. 
But  time  has  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  the  undertaking.  It  was  to 
the  wholesale  dry  goods  cause  of  the  Northwest  what  the  memorable  raid 
of  Sherman  was  to  the  cause  of  the  National  Government.  If  it  was 
daring  to  look  forward  to,  it  was  grand  to  look  back  upon. 

The  men  who  build  a  commerce  are  to  be  honored  with  those  who 
found  a  commonwealth.  Commerce  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  common- 
wealth. First  ships,  then  schools;  first  trade  in  corn,  then  in  books. 
What  are  dwelling  houses  without  warehouses?  But  for  commerce  there 
had  been  no  Chicago.  Once  a  commercial  capital,  and  Chicago  became  a 
seat  of  learning  and  of  literature,  a  market  for  knowledge  as  well  as  for 
breadstuifs  and  dry  goods.  This  is  the  metropolis  which  the  man  of  this 
sketch  helped  mightily  to  build,  by  his  enterprise,  and  then  to  adorn  with 


102  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

his  philanthropy.  And  such  men  have  a  fame  which  Chicago  Avill  never 
let  die.  Their  renown  is  indissoluble  linked  with  hers.  And  a.s  we  ram- 
ble through  this  buzzing  and  busy  dry  goods  hive  on  the  Avenue^  with 
its  hundred  men  and  its  piles  of  fabrics  from  every  part  of  the  commer- 
cial Avorld,  we  cannot  but  feel  a  thrill  of  pride  in  the  man  who  founded 
and  builded  it  all.  But  we  have  a  livelier  and  a  nobler  satisfaction  when 
we  contemplate  this  man  as  "the  servant  who  was  found  faithful"  to  his 
stewardship,  as  well  as  the  merchant  who  was  found  equal  to  every 
exigency.  Prosperity  did  not  quench  the  ardor  of  his  convictions,  deaden 
his  sensibilities,  nor  blunt  his  moral  sense.  AVhen  poverty  departed  it 
did  not  carry  conscience  away  with  it;  M'hen  riches  came  they  did  not 
briug  penuriousness  along,  but  openhandedness  instead.  The  merchant 
had  an  end  beyond  his  merchandise,  the  tradesman  was  not  content  with 
trade.  Affluence  was  made  no  excuse  for  self-indulgence.  The  miserable 
cupidity  Mhich  brnigs  a  man  to  his  knees  before  the  golden  calf  was  had 
in  scornful  detestatiou.  The  groveling  avarice  wiiich  makes  a  business 
man  a  slave  to  his  business  was  equally  despised.  The  love  of  Christ 
constrained  the  love  of  money.  The  love  of  God  induced  the  love  of  man, 
and  the  love  of  man  was  shown  by  deeds  and  devices  for  his  amelioration 
and  elevation.  Mr.  Farwell  increased  in  philanthropy  as  he  increased 
in  moans  for  exercising  it.  The  world  that  lieth  in  wickedness,  and  the 
church  which  is  as  a  net  to  save  it,  are  the  objects  of  his  alert  solicitude 
and  unremitting  liberality. 

In  1856,  he  started  the  Illinois  Street  Mission,  now  known  and  felt  as 
a  missionary  enterprise  of  prodigious  power  in  this  community.  It  was 
designed  especially  to  reach  saloon  boys,  but  it  rapidly  grew  into  propor- 
tions that  embraced  all  classes  of  outcast  children,  and  from  feeble 
beginnings,  it  has  expanded  into  a  church  of  three  hundred  members,  and 
a  Sunday  school  of  nine  hundred  persons.  For  ten  years,  ending  last 
year,  Mr.  Farwell  was  the  Superintendent  of  the  ^lission,  for  the  building 
of  Mhich  he  has  paid  about  $10,000,  and  $1,000  per  annum  for  current 
expenses.  And  it  is  no  more  sectarian  than  its  founder,  but,  like  him,  it 
is  simply  and  broadly  Christian.  The  preaching  of  its  pulpit  ends  with 
the  proclamation  of  the  gospel,  its  labor  of  love  is  confined  to  the  com- 
pelling them  to  "come  in,"  leaving  them,  after  they  are  in,  to  their  own 
consciences  as  to  the  disputed  questions  in  theology  and  metaphysics. 

Among  Mr.  Farwell's  good  works  are  his  labors  in  behalf  of  the 
prisoners  at  the  Bridewell,  where  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  holding 


JOHN    V.    FAnAVi:i,T-.  103 

relioious  services  on  Sunday,  ever  since  1858;  and  where  lie  has  been  tlie 
means,  through  liis  temperance  appeals  and  "lay  preaching,"  of  reclaiming 
some  of  the  most  obdurate,  and  of  saving  several  men  of  noble  parts  and 
fine  education. 

During  our  civil  Avar,  Mr.  Farwcll's  Christian  pliilanthro])y  and 
patriotic  zeal  were  conspicuous  and  telling.  He  was  one  of  the  prime 
movers  in  raising  the  Board  of  Trade  Regiment,  as  well  as  the  $40,000 
wliioh  its  equipment  and  shipment  cost.  In  the  furnishing  of  men  and 
money  for  the  national  army  he  was  always  foremost.  He  made  no 
conditions  in  giving  or  doing,  whether  good  report  or  evil  report  was  the 
fate  of  the  Administration,  whether  its  measures  met  his  approval  or  not, 
and  whether  prosperity  or  adversity  befel  the  national  cause,  he  Avas 
always  ready,  nay,  anxious  to  do  and  to  give  for  its  preservation  and 
advancement.  He  contributed  liberally  to  the  Sanitary  and  Christian 
Commissions,  especially  the  latter,  to  which  he  gave  much  time,  money 
and  labor,  exerting  himself  continually  for  the  succor  of  those  who  fell,  as 
well  as  for  the  support  of  those  who  stood  in  the  day  of  battle. 

In  the  Young  ISIen's  Christian  Association  of  Chicago,  Mr.  Farwell 
has  always  shown  a  deep  interest,  and  for  its  noble  work  an  enthusiastic 
love.  To  him,  perhaps,  more  than  to  any  one  man  is  it  indebted  for  its 
present  prosperous  and  promising  condition,  and  the  magnificent  edifice 
which  it  now  occupies.  The  ground  upon  which  this  building  stands  Avas 
sold  to  the  Association  by  Mr.  Farwell  for  $30,000  less  than  its  market 
value,  and  the  cost  of  it  was  taken  out  in  stock. 

The  progressive  and  enterprising  spirit  for  which  Mr.  Farwell  is 
eminent  in  the  domain  of  commerce  he  carries  into  the  religious  and 
philanthropic  projects  to  which  he  devotes  himself.  He  believes  in 
forward  movements,  in  giving  the  enemy  no  rest,  in  carrying  the  Avar 
against  Satan  into  Satan's  country,  in  action  at  all  events  and  under  all 
circumstances.  He  believes  the  Avay  to  raise  money  for  public  purposes  is 
to  show  the  necessity  for  it,  and  then  to  make  a  raid  for  it  upon  those  A\'ho 
have  it.  He  has  learned  by  experience  that  the  bold  may  Avin  in  the 
good  as  Avell  as  in  the  bad  cause,  and  that  there  is  no  more  reason  for 
timidity  in  religious  than  in  secular  affairs.  With  such  a  spirit  in  the 
leadership  of  the  city's  reform  movements  and  the  cause  of  Christ's 
Church,  aggression  is  certain,  and  stagnation  out  of  the  question. 

Mr.  FarAvell  is  now  in  his  forty-third  year,  and  although  he  had 
privations  to  encounter,  and  hardness  to  endure  in  the  early  years  of 


104  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

his  life,  he  is  passing  its  meridian  with  unabated  enthusiasm  and  unim- 
paired physical  vigor.  He  is  rather  under  medium  size,  compact  and 
snug.  His  step  is  quick  and  elastic,  his  eye  is  kindly  and  lively,  and  his 
countenance  throughout  is  strongly  expressive  of  the  energy  of  will,  the 
purity  of  purpose,  and  the  benevolence  of  disposition  which  we  have  seen 
to  be  his  dominant  characteristics. 

And  now,  if  this  necessarily  scanty  outline  of  his  career  and  imperfect 
analysis  of  his  character  shall  induce  a  single  one  of  the  youth  of  tlie 
city  to  emulate  his  example,  the  writer  will  feel  happiness  in  the  assurance 
that  his  labor  has  not  been  in  vain. 


WILLIAM  BLAIR. 


Few  of  the  mercantile  interests  of  our  city  have  attained  to  greater 
importance  than  that  of  hardware  and  iron,  and  none  require  the 
employment  of  more  capital,  or  call  for  a  more  extended  experience. 
The  wholesale  hardware  merchants  of  this  city  have  established  Chicago 
as  the  headquarters  of  that  business  for  the  whole  Northwest,  as  their 
brethren  have  made  it  the  commercial  emporium  in  all  other  regards. 
The  pioneer  in  the  exclusively  wholesale  line  of  this  important  branch 
of  Chicago  trade,  and  at  present  one  of  the  largest  dealers  in  the  North- 
west, is  "William  Blair,  Esq.,  the  senior  partner  of  the  firm  of  William 
Blair  &  Co. 

JNIr.  Blair  was  born  May  20,  1818,  in  Homer,  Cortland  County, 
New  York.  The  family  removed  soon  after  to  the  adjoining  town  of 
Cortlandville,  where  he  attended  school  until  the  age  of  fourteen.  He 
then  made  an  engagement  with  Mr.  Oren  North,  who  kept  a  stove  and 
hardware  establishment  in  that  place,  and  became  a  member  of  his  family, 
remaining  Avith  him  a  little  more  than  four  years,  learning  the  business, 
and  receiving  the  benefit  of  a  good  example  and  principles  of  the  strictest 
integrity  on  the  part  of  his  employer,  who  was  a  j^rominent  and  highly 
esteemed  citizen  in  the  community. 

Mr.  Blair  was  but  a  little  over  eighteen  years  old  when  he  set  out  to 
make  a  home  in  the  great  West.  His  employer  had  for  some  time  been 
anxious  to  establish  a  business  in  this  region,  and  in  July,  1836,  he  sent 
out  his  jyrotege  to  Joliet,  then  a  new  settlement,  with  instructions  to  o})en 
up  a  branch  there,  intending  to  folloAV  him  during  the  subse({uent  year. 
He  gave  Mr.  Blair  letters  of  introduction  to  the  late  Martin  H.  Demmond, 
and  others  of  that  place,  and  the  young  man  soon  found  himself  among 


106  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

friends.  His  good  knowledge  of  business,  correct  deportment  and  rigid 
punctuality,  produced  a  favorable  impression  on  all  with  whom  he  became 
acquainted,  and  he  was  soon  doing  a  thriving  trade. 

The  next  year  was,  however,  a  disastrous  one ;  1837  is  yet  remembered, 
all  over  the  West,  as  the  first  of  the  series  of  financial  storms  which  visit 
this  region  at  ten-year  intervals.  Tlie  revulsion  was  deemed  by  Mr. 
North  a  good  and  sufficient  reason  for  abandoning  his  intention  to  settle 
in  the  West  and  throwing  up  his  establishment  here.  But  Mr.  Blair  was 
not  discouraged ;  he  had  full  faith  in  the  future.  With  the  aid  of  his 
brothers,  Chauiicey  B.  and  Lyman,  he  purchased  the  small  stock  of  goods 
at  Joliet,  and  continued  the  business  there  on  his  own  account  till  1842, 
when  he  decided  to  remove  to  Chicago. 

We  may  mention,  en  passant,  that  his  two  brothers,  Chauncey  B.  and 
Lyman,  both  now  of  this  city,  were  at  that  time  located  in  ^Michigan  City, 
Indiana;  the  former  removing  there  in  1835,  and  the  latter  in  the  spring 
of  1836.  That  city  was  then  competing  with  Cliicago  for  tlie  position  of 
Queen  of  the  Lakes,  and  for  some  years  the  brothers  Blair  remained  there, 
largely  engaged  in  the  mercantile  and  shipping  business.  They^  liowevcr, 
eventually  saw  that  the  Garden  City  was  rapidly  becoming  the  focus  of 
the  West,  and  followed  the  star  of  empire  around  the  bend  of  Lake 
Michigan.  Chauncey  B.  is  now  the  President  of  the  Merchants'  National 
Bank  of  Chicago,  and  Lyman  is  a  member  of  the  extensive  packing  firm 
of  Culbertson,  Blair  &  Co.,  and  also  of  the  commission  house  of  Blair, 
Densmore  &  Co. 

About  the  first  of  August,  1842,  William  Blair  opened  a  store  in  this 
city,  locating  on  the  corner  of  Dearborn  and  South  Water  streets.  He  at 
first  confined  himself  to  retailing,  but  dealers  from  the  country  came  in  to 
make  purchases  for  replenishing  their  stocks.  He  was  thus  involuntarily 
led  to  undertake  the  wholesale  business.  His  brother,  Chauncey  B., 
became  interested  Avith  him  in  the  spring  of  1844.  A  consideral)le 
amount  of  capital  was  thus  added  to  the  business,  and  a  large  extension 
was  made  in  the  wholesale  department.  Iron  being  added  to  the  stock,  a 
removal  to  more  commodious  quarters,  at  No.  75  Lake  street,  was  efiected. 

In  the  spring  of  1846,  Mr.  Blair  purchased  the  interest  of  his  brother 
Chauncey,  and  took  in,  as  partner,  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  William  E. 
Stimson,  a  young  man  of  great  promise  and  possessed  of  excellent  traits 
of  character,  Avho  had  come  here  from  Cortlandville  a  year  previous.  The 
firm  of  Blair  &  Stimson  was  abundantly  prospered,  but  the  health  of  the 


WILLIAM   BLAIR.  107 

junior  partner  failing,  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  business.  In  the  autumn 
of  1849,  he  went  to  Florida  for  the  benefit  of  his  healtli,  and  spent  the 
winter  there,  but  without  any  permanent  benefit ;  he  died  of  consumption, 
ill  December,  1850,  nniversally  respected. 

Another  movement  was  necessitated  in  the  spring  of  1847,  and  the 
larger  store.  No.  103  Lake  street,  was  entered  on.  Mr.  Blair  began  now 
to  see  that  another  extension  would  ere  long  be  required,  and  resolved  to 
occupy  quarters  of  his  own.  He  purchased  the  lot  No.  176  Lake  street, 
in  1848,  at  $225  per  foot,  and  erected  a  commodious  brick  building 
thereon,  to  which  the  business  of  the  firm  was  transferred  in  the  following 
year.  After  the  death  of  his  partner,  Mr.  Blair  continued  the  business  in 
his  own  name  until  the  spring  of  1853,  when  Mr.  Claudius  B.  Nelson,  his 
present  partner,  who  had  been  with  the  house  for  several  years,  became 
interested  in  the  business,  which  was  thenceforward  conducted  under  the 
firm  name  of  William  Blair  &  Co.  During  the  last  named  interval,  about 
1851,  Mr.  Blair  commenced  to  sell  hardware  at  wholesale  exclusively,  his 
beiug  the  first  exclusively  wholesale  hardware  house  in  this  city.  In  the 
spring  of  1853,  in  connection  with  Mr.  E.  G.  Hall,  he  established  a 
separate  iron  store  on  South  "Water  street,  under  the  name  of  E.  G.  Hall 
&  Co.  In  1860,  Mr.  Blair  withdrew  from  this  firm,  transferring  his 
interest  to  the  senior  partner.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  house  of 
Blair  &  Co.  had  given  up  the  sale  of  bar  iron,  the  business  increased  very 
largely.  Still  another  removal  was  necessary,  and  Mr.  Blair,  in  order  to 
make  room  enough,  for  at  least  a  few  years  in  the  future,  rebuilt  the 
marble  front  stores,  Nos.  179  and  181  Randolph  street,  and  the  business 
was  transferred  to  the  present  location  in  the  autumn  of  1865.  In  the 
spring  of  1856,  Mr.  Oliver  W.  Belden,  a  young  man  of  large  experience, 
who  had  been  brought  up  at  the  business  in  the  East,  and  connected  with 
the  house  for  .several  years,  was  admitted  as  a  partner  in  the  firm. 

The  business  of  the  house,  as  now  conducted,  is  a  very  extensive  one, 
ramifying  over  nearly  the  whole  West,  and  taking  in  a  wide  range  of 
activity  as  well  as  country.  From  the  time  when  the  completion  of  our 
railroad  lines  to  the  Mississippi  enabled  our  merchants  to  send  out  goods, 
which  had  always  before  that  been  bought  in  St.  Louis  or  in  the  Atlantic! 
cities,  the  dealers  of  the  Northwestern  States  have  looked  to  Chicago  for 
their  supplies  of  hardware,  and  a  large  per  centage  of  them  have  become 
accustomed  to  look  on  Mr.  Blair  as  the  representative  of  that  business  for 
this  city.     The  extent  of  the  connection  may  be  judged  from  the  fact,  that 


108  ^.BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  business  of  the  house  during  the  past  two  years  has  averaged  over  a 
million  of  dollars,  and  this  amount  of  transactions  is  managed  Avith  as 
much  ease  as  the  winding  of  a  watch,  the  perfection  of  method  having 
been  reached,  both  in  arrangement  of  goods  and  distribution  of  effort. 
The  business  of  the  establishment  is  a  perfect  unity.  It  has  ever  been  the 
aim  of  the  firm  to  inculcate  correct  business  principles  in  their  clerks  and 
other  employes,  that  they  may  be  fitted  to  fill  responsible  positions,  if 
required,  elsewhere.  While  insisting  on  a  strict  fulfilment  of  duties,  Mr. 
Blair  has  always  endeavored  to  secure  good  personal  behavior,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  printed  rules  of  the  store  that  "each  clerk  is  earnestly  desired 
to  attend  Divine  service  on  the  Sabbath,  as  well  as  to  abstain  from  the 
use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks." 

It  is  Avorthy  of  remark,  that  though  Mr.  Blair  has  passed  through  at 
least  two  financial  storms,  the  firms  with  which  he  has  been  connected 
have  never  paid  less  than  one  hundred  cents  on  the  dollar,  or  asked  their 
creditors  to  take  loss.  Next  to  unfailing  attention  to  business,  this 
success  is  ascribable  to  that  too  rare  phase  of  mercantile  integrity  which 
made  it  a  rule  never  to  speculate  with  the  money  of  creditors.  Mr. 
Blair  purchased  real  estate  for  use,  and  to  some  extent  for  investment,  but 
never  Avould  permit  his  regular  mercantile  business  to  be  interfered  with 
by  real  estate  or  other  speculations. 

Mr.  Blair  has  never  sought  public  honor,  but  his  purse  has  always 
been  open  to  the  calls  of  charity  and  science,  and  his  well  known  business 
acumen  has  been  largely  recognized.  He  has  thus  been  very  actively 
engaged  in  many  movements  having  for  their  object  the  advancement  of 
the  interests,  or  the  amelioration  of  the  sufferings  of  society.  He  has  been 
at  different  times  a  member  of  the  Boards  of  Directors  of  the  Young 
Men's  Association,  the  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum,  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  the  Board  of  Trade,  Vice  President  of  the  Home  for  the  Friend- 
less for  several  years,  and  is  now  one  of  the  Directors  of  the  Merchants' 
National  Bank  of  Chicago,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Telegraph  Company,  of  New  York.  Since  the  year 
1859,  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  society — 
Rev.  R.  W.  Patterson,  D.  D.,  Pastor. 

AVhen  the  war  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  broke  out,  Mr. 
Blair  gave  his  active  aid  towards  the  fitting  out  of  our  volunteers,  and 
getting  troops  into  the  field.  He  had  two  nephews  in  the  volunteer 
service — both,  at  different  periods,  in  the  employ  of  the  firm,  and  members 


WILIiTAM   BLAIR.  109 

of  his  own  family.  One,  Captain  L.  B.  Crosby,  of  the  Eighty-seventh 
Indiana  Regiment,  was  severely  wonnded  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga; 
the  other,  Adjutant  J.  S.  Ballard,  of  the  Second  Board  of  Trade  Regiment, 
died  at  Murfreesboro',  in  1863,  from  the  eflfects  of  exposure  while  in  the 
service. 

On  the  first  of  November,  1865,  Mr.  Blair  sailed,  with  his  family,  for 
Europe,  where  he  spent  nearly  a  year,  visiting  England,  Scotland,  France, 
Italy,  Holland,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  the  smaller 
German  States  along  the  Rhine,  passing  more  or  less  time  in  each,  and 
inspecting,  with  much  interest,  the  ancient  and  modern  architecture  of 
those  countries,  their  art  collections,  museums,  libraries,  public  parks,  etc., 
and  gathering  much  valuable  information  with  regard  to  the  habits  and 
characteristics  of  the  peoples  of  the  Old  World.  While  in  England  he 
visited  the  manufactiu'ing  districts  of  Birmingham  and  Sheffield ;  at  the 
latter  place  going  over  some  of  the  celebrated  file  and  cutlery  works  of 
manufacturing  firms  with  which  his  house  sustains  business  relations.  He 
returned  home  in  October,  1866. 

From  an  address  delivered  by  W.  H.  Gibbs,  before  the  Literary 
Association  of  Blandford,  Massachusetts,  in  September,  1850,  on  the 
history  of  that  town,  we  gather  the  facts  that  the  family  originated  in 
Scotland,  where  many  of  the  old  stock  yet  remain.  In  1720,  David 
Blair,  with  his  family  of  eleven  children,  arrived  at  Boston,  whence,  in  a 
few  months,  they  removed  to  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  which  became 
their  home.  Robert  Blair,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  and  one  of  the  sons  of  David,  afterwards  moved  to  Blandford, 
Hampden  County,  where  other  members  of  the  family  settled  at  a  later 
period.  He  purchased  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  a  place  known  as 
"The  Gore"  tract.  Here  he  built  a  log  house  and  began  to  clear  the 
land,  in  the  midst  of  what  was  till  then  an  unbroken  forest,  save  by  a 
foot  path  which  led  to  the  nearest  fort,  about  two  miles  distant.  He  was 
subsequently  chosen  deacon  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  there,  and  served 
many  years  in  that  capacity.  Rufus,  a  son  of  Robert,  was  born  in 
Blandford,  and  resided  there  until  death ;  his  son,  Samuel,  was  also  born 
in  Blandford,  removing  to  Chenango  County,  New  York,  in  1812,  and 
two  years  later,  to  Cortland  County,  in  the  same  State,  where  his  son 
William  was  born, 

Mr.  Blair  was  married  in  June,  1854,  to  Miss  Seymour,  a  daughter 
of  Mr.  John  Seymour,  of  Lyme,  Ohio.    Two  sons  have  been  born  to  them. 


110 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


The  eldest,  Willie,  a  bright  lad,  died  in  December,  1861,  not  quite  six 
years  of  age.  Edward,  the  remaining  son,  is  living,  and  is  now  about  ten 
years  old.  The  family  reside  on  Michigan  Avenue.  The  husband  and 
father  is  a  man  of  quiet  demeanor,  affable  carriage,  full  information,  frank 
in  statement,  charitable  in  the  imputation  of  motives,  but  having  a  nice 
sense  of  honor  in  business  transactions,  his  first  words  being  of  the  same 
tenor  as  the  last.  His  private  character  is  most  exemplary,  and  in  point 
of  business  integrity,  the  record  of  none  stands  higher  than  that  of 
William  Blair. 


CHARLES  L.  WILSON. 


The  veteran,  in  jDoint  of  experience,  though  not  in  years,  of  those 
Chicago  journalists  now  living  who  have  been  continuously,  and  are  still, 
actively  identified  with  the  daily  newspaper  press  of  the  city,  is  Charles 
L.  AViLSON,  Esq.,  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  "Evening  Journal," 
the  oldest  of  the  Northwestern  dailies.  The  history  of  his  editorial 
career  is  co-extensive  with  that  of  the  city,  and  when  the  historian  of 
Chicago  comes  to  write  up  its  annals,  he  will  find  the  files  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
"Journal"  indispensable  for  reference,  being  a  faithful  reflex  of  the  spirit 
of  the  times,  and  a  daily  chronicle  of  transpiring  events,  from  a  period 
when  this  now  great  and  flourishing  metropolis  was  comparatively  a  small 
village. 

Charles  L.  Wilson  was  born  and  educated  in  Fairfield  County,  Con- 
necticut. He  came  to  Chicago  in  September,  1835,  beginning  his  career 
here  as  a  clerk  in  a  mercantile  house,  and  subsequently  serving  in  a 
similar  capacity  at  Joliet.  In  1844,  the  "Evening  Journal"  Avas  first 
issued  as  a  Whig  campaign  paper,  advocating  the  election  of  Henry  Clay 
to  the  Presidency,  Richard  L.  Wilson  being  its  editor.  After  the  election, 
despite  its  adverse  result,  it  was  determined  to  continue  the  "  Journal "  as 
a  permanent  institution,  and  it  has  been  published  daily  ever  .since, 
without  interruption.  In  1845,  Mr.  Wilson  was  associated  with  his 
brother  in  the  editorial  department  of  the  paper,  and  in  1848,  the  latter 
having  been  appointed  Postmaster  by  President  Taylor,  he  (Charles  L.) 
became  proprietor  of  the  establishment,  and  has  continued  to  be  such 
until  the  present  time. 

Although  not  a  graduate  from  any  college,  Mr.  Wilson  is  a  gentleman 
of  literary  and  intellectual   ability — a  self-made  man,    emphatically — a 


112  BICGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

sharp  and  ready  reasoner — and  as  a  writer  of  sarcastic  repartee  or  pointed 
paragraphs,  has  few  equals.  Pie  rarely  writes  elaborate  editorials,  but 
dashes  off  an  argument,  an  opinion,  a  retort,  or  a  "squib,"  hurriedly  and 
briefly,  but  always  with  effect.  When  he  fires  a  shot,  it  scarcely  ever  fails 
to  hit  the  mark.  Some  of  the  most  effective  political  newspaper  articles 
of  our  past  campaigns  have  been  the  short,  pointed  and  conclusive 
editorials  from  his  pen.  He  delights  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  "shooting 
folly  as  it  flies,"  pricking  political,  editorial  or  theoretical  puft-balls,  and 
exposing  to  public  gaze  the  long  ears  of  such  animals  as  go  about  in  the 
guise  of  would-be  lions. 

The  "Journal"  was  tlie  leading  organ  of  the  old  Whig  party  in 
Illinois,  and  advocated  its  principles  and  supported  its  candidates  so  long 
as  that  organization  was  anywhere  maintiiined.  It  entered  the  lists 
fearlessly  against  the  order  of  "Know  Nothings,"  which  sprang  into 
existence  at  the  demise  of  the  Whig  party,  and,  almost  single-handed, 
maintained  its  position  whilst  that  political  tornado  swept  over  the 
country. 

In  the  formation  of  the  Anti-Nebraska,  or  Republican  party  of  the 
State,  Mr.  W^ilson  was  an  active  participant.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Convention  Avhich  met  at  Bloomington,  in  1854,  and  with  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Elihu  B.  AVashburne,  and  other  prominent 
Whigs,  joined  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  in  the  formation  of  a  party 
which  has  since  been  the  governing  power  in  the  State  and  nation, 

Mr.  Wilson  was  also  a  member  of  the  Republican  State  Convention 
of  1858.  Personally  and  politically  attached  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  was  in 
that  Convention  that  he  offered  a  resolution,  "that  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
its  first,  last  and  only  choice  for  United  States  Senator  in  place  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,"  which  was  enthusiastically  adopted.  Although  opposed 
to  the  ideas  of  policy  maintained  by  many  influential  Republicans,  that 
resolution  induced  Mr.  Douglas  to  change  the  course  which  he  had 
previously  marked  out,  and  which  had  been  approved  even  by  leading 
Republican  journals  at  the  East.  When  Mr.  Douglas  returned  from 
Washington,  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  in  the  spring  of  1858, 
his  friends  gave  him  a  public  reception,  on  which  occasion  he  made  a 
somewhat  elaborate  speech,  enunciating  his  political  sentiments  in 
reference  to  slavery,  and  advocating  his  celebrated  doctrine  of  "popular 
sovereignty."  Whilst  other  friends  advised  a  different  course,  Mr.  Wilson 
urged  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  to  immediately  reply  to  that  speech,  and  afterwards 


CHARLES    L.    WILSON.  113 

proposed  that  he  should  challenge  Mr.  Douglas  to  a  public  discussion  of 
the  iJolitieal  questions  then  at  issue  before  the  peo]»le.  Mr.  Lincoln 
adopted  this  suggestion,  and  the  memorable  joint  discussions  that  followed 
secured  to  him  a  national  reputation  as  one  of  the  ibremost  statesmen  in 
the  country.  During  its  progress,  Mr.  Lincoln  frequently  communicated 
with  Mr.  Wilson  in  regard  to  the  details  of  that  exciting  contest,  and,  as 
the  writer  of  this  sketch  is  aware,  as  frequently  availed  himself  of 
suggestions  made  by  him  for  its  conduct. 

In  the  contest  which  followed  for  the  nomination  of  a  Republican 
candidate  for  President,  Mr.  Wilson  warmly  advocated  the  claims  of 
William  H.  Seward,  and  espoused  his  cause  in  the  columns  of  the 
"Journal."  His  relations  with  Mr.  Seward  were  personally  and  polit- 
ically as  intimate  as  those  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and,  regarding  the  former  as 
the  architect  of  the  great  party  and  its  acknowledged  head,  he  considered 
the  nomination  due  to  him  as  a  matter  both  of  justice  and  policy.  He, 
therefore,  did  not  hesitate  to  zealously  urge  Mr.  Seward's  nomination ;  but 
when  the  choice  of  the  Convention  fell  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  though  sorely 
disappointed  at  the  defeat  of  his  life-long  friend  and  political  prototype, 
on  the  same  afternoon,  in  a  brief  editorial,  he  urged  a  hearty  ratification 
of  the  nomination,  and  did  much,  at  that  time  and  during  the  canvass, 
towards  breaking  the  force  of  the  blow  which  the  friends  of  Mr.  Seward 
had  received.  Although  perhaps  not  generally  known  at  that  time,  yet 
it  was  through  his  influence  that  Mr.  Seward  afterwards  came  to  the  West 
to  urge  Mr.  Lincoln's  election. 

In  1861,  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration  as  President,  among  his 
first  foreign  appointments  was  that  of  Mr.  Wilson.  The  choice  of  the 
Secretaryship  of  the  Paris  and  London  Legations  was  tendered  him, 
unsolicited  by  himself  or  his  friends.  He  chose  the  latter.  His  appoint- 
ment was  promptly  made,  and  unanimously  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  He 
discharged  the  arduous  duties  of  that  position  for  over  three  years  with 
signal  acceptability,  as  the  following  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State 
attests : 

"Department  of  State,  Washington,  July  30,  1864. 

"Sir:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  15th  instant,  ofiFering 
your  resignation  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  Legation  of  the  United  States  at  London. 

"The  President  directs  me  to  inform  you,  in  reply,  that  your  resignation  is  accepted, 
and  that  Benjamin  Moran,  Esq.,  the  efficient  Assistant  Secretary,  has  been  promoted  to 
fill  the  vacancy  thus  occasioned. 


114  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

"It  gives  me   great  pleasure  to  assure   you  that  the  manner  in  which  you  have 

fulfilled  the  responsible  duties  with  which  you  have  been  charged  meets  with  the  entire 

approbation  of  the  President  and  this  Department. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  Servant, 

"William  H.  Seward. 
"Charles  L.  Wilson,  Esq." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Hon.  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  our  Minister  at  London,  addressed  to  Mr.  Wilson : 

"London,  2d  July,  1864. 
"My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  friendly  note,  informing  me 
of  your  decision  to  resign  your  post  as  Secretary  of  this  Legation.  We  have  gone  on 
together  so  peacefully  and  harmoniously  through  the  ordinary  term  of  a  Minister,  that  I 
had  hoped  no  change  would  be  made  whilst  I  remained.  I  trust  I  need  not  say  tliat,  in 
the  relation  I  have  had  with  you,  I  have  never  failed  to  experience  the  utmost  courtesy 
and  good  will,  as  well  as  hearty  co-operation  in  the  performance  of  my  functions.  The 
value  and  importance  of  this  can  be  fully  understood  only  by  the  Minister." 

Mr.  Wilson's  resignation  was  induced  by  the  business  of  his  newspaper 
ofifice  requiring  his  personal  attention,  and  his  desire  to  take  part  in  the 
re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  nomination  for  a  second  term  he 
earnestly  advocated.  The  "  Journal,"  whose  general  course  of  policy  he 
dictated  from  London,  had  been  very  prosperous  during  his  absence,  and, 
on  his  return,  he  found  that  his  printing  and  newspaper  establishmeut, 
Avhich  was  just  beginning  to  be  really  remunerative  when  he  went  abroad, 
had  grown  into  a  very  extensive  and  flourishing  business.  It  has 
continued  in  its  prosperity,  and  Mr.  Wilson  is  now  deservedly  gathering 
the  fruits  of  those  past  years  of  labor,  struggle  and  hopeful  patience, 
when  the  "  Journal "  was  in  its  infancy  and  required  constant  care,  watch- 
fulness and  sacrifice.  Through  all  these  years,  he  has  always  been  faithful 
to  principle  and  a  consistent  advocate  of  what  he  deemed  to  be  right. 
Independent  and  outspoken  on  all  public  questions,  and  honest  in  his 
convictions,  neither  personal  nor  pecuniary  considerations  have  ever 
influenced  him  in  his  editorial  course.  The  "Journal,"  therefore,  has  a 
M'ide-spread  influence,  and  possesses,  to  an  eminent  degree,  the  confidence 
of  its  patrons.  The  establishment,  of  Avhich  he  is  the  sole  owner,  is  one 
of  the  most  prosperous  and  profitable  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Wilson  is  still  in  the  prime  of  life.  He  is  what  may  be  termed 
a  "positive  man,"  of  generous  impulses  and  strong  personal  attachments. 
Amongst  his  many  friends,  those  are  the  warmest  who  know  him  most 
intimately.     Fond  of  field  sports,  his  chief  amusements  are  with  the  rod 


CHAELES   L.  WILSON.  115 

and  gun.  He  has  never  been  married,  but,  with  a  cheerful  temperament, 
lives  a  life  of  "single  blessedness,"  with  the  "Journal"  as  his  "better 
half,"  and  his  army  of  editors,  reporters  and  printers  as  his  family.  He 
is  most  emphatically  his  own  master  and  the  master  of  his  own  editorial 
and  newspaporial  household — and  yet,  as  generous  of  heart  as  a  child, 
and  as  liberal  in  spirit  and  as  wakeful  in  conscience  as  the  most  approved 
of  modern  "Liberal  Christians." 


^ 


THOMAS  DPtUMMOND. 


The  position  of  United  States  Judge  is  one  of  the  highest  that  can  be 
attained  by  an  American  citizen,  and  he  who  worthily  fills  the  office  is 
entitled  to  a  respect  scarcely  second  to  that  which  waits  on  the  President. 
The  emoluments  are  not  great,  but  the  place  is  one  of  high  honor  and 
immense  responsibility.  One  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  that  office  is 
the  Honorable  Thomas  Drummond,  of  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois, 
who  holds  his  court  in  the  Government  block,  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 

Thomas  Drummond  was  born  on  the  16th  of  October,  1809,  at 
Bristol  Mills,  a  village  in  Bristol  Township,  Lincoln  County,  Maine. 
The  township  is  a  peninsula,  running  into  the  ocean,  with  the  well-known 
headland — Pemaquid  Point — as  its  southern  limit.  It  was  visited  by  the 
early  navigators,  and  a  temporary  settlement  was  made  there  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  paternal  grandfather  emigrated  from 
Scotland  about  the  year  1760,  and  settled  in  Bristol  before  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Kevolutionary  War.  The  mother  of  Thomas  was  a  daughter 
of  Henry  Little,  of  Newcastle,  Maine,  who  descended  from  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England.  His  father  was  Hon.  James  Drummond,  who 
was  a  farmer,  but  followed  the  sea  for  a  considerable  portion  of  his  life, 
and  for  some  years  represented  his  native  town  and  county  in  the  Maine 
Legislature.  He  died  in  the  year  1837,  universally  regretted  as  a  man 
of  sterling  integrity,  joined  to  a  much  greater  share  of  what  is  usually 
called  "common  sense"  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  average  humanity. 
Mrs.  Drummond  died  when  Thomas  was  a  mere  child. 

Living  on  the  sea  coast,  the  son  of  a  seaman,  surrounded  by  marine 
associations,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  early 
wished  to  become  a  sailor.     His  father  was  peremptory  in  his  refusal  to 


H'"^  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

gratify  the  boyish  longing,  and  the  son  was  several  times  sorely  tempted 
to  run  away,  as  so  many  had  done  before  liim.  Ilis  sense  of  filial  duty, 
however,  was  stronger  than  his  love  of  adventure;  but  those  mental 
experiences  left  their  furrows  in  his  heart,  implanting  a  never-fading 
attachment  to  the  profession,  which  has  since  shown  itself  in  his  complete 
mastery  of  "all  and  singular"  the  legal  points  involved  in  marine  law,  and 
caused  his  decisions  in  admiralty  to  be  regarded  as  indisputable — seldom 
appealed  from  or  reversed. 

He  received  his  first  instruction  in  the  little  school-house  of  his  native 
village — a  structure  still  standing  in  the  same  spot  as  that  on  which  he 
learned  his  alphabet  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  During  his  boyhood,  he 
attended  various  academies  in  Maine — at  Newcastle,  INIonmouth,  Farm- 
ington  and  Gorham,  He  entered  Bowdoin  College  (Brunswick,  Maine,) 
in  the  year  182G,  and  graduated  there  in  1830,  in  regular  course. 

The  business  training  commenced  immediately  thereafter.  He  left 
Maine  in  September,  1830,  for  Philadelpliia,  where  he  commenced  the 
study  of  law,  in  tlie  ofl&ce  of  William  T.  Dwight,  Esq.,  a  son  of  President 
D wight,  of  Yale  College.  AVhen  Mr.  Dwight  left  the  bar,  in  1831,  to 
enter  tlie  ministry,  INIr.  Drummond  went  into  the  office  of  Thomas 
Bradford,  Jr.,  Esq.,  with  whom  he  remained  until  admitted  to  the  bar,  in 
March,  1833. 

In  May,  1835,  Mr.  Drummond  left  Pliiladelphia,  and  came  to 
Illinois.  He  settled  in  Galena,  where  he  was  soon  recognized  as  a  lawyer 
of  unusually  solid  attainments,  great  perseverance  and  untiring  industry. 
He  practiced  his  profession  there,  with  success,  for  nearly  fifteen  years, 
being  engaged  on  many  important  cases.  On  tlie  death  of  Judge  Pope, 
he  was  appointed,  in  February,  1850,  by  General  Taylor,  to  succeed  him 
in  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  District 
of  Illinois.  He  removed  from  Galena  to  Chicago  in  1854,  where  he  has 
ever  since  resided,  holding  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  United  States  Court 
for  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois. 

Judge  Drummond  belonged  to  the  old  Whig  party,  but  never  mingled 
extensively  in  politics,  and  has  only  held  a  political  office  once.  In  the 
campaign  of  1840,  he,  in  conjunction  with  Hiram  W.  Thornton — then, 
and  now,  of  Mercer  County — and  in  opposition  to  Thompson  Campbell 
and  Dr.  Van  Valzah,  canvassed  the  northwestern  part  of  this  State,  and, 
with  Mr.  Thornton,  represented  the  counties  of  Jo  Daviess,  Carroll, 
Stephenson,  Winnebago,  Boone,  Ogle,  Lee,  Whiteside,  Eock  Island  and 


THOMAS    DKITMMONl).  11!) 

Mercer,  in  the  Housl'  of  R('j)rosentalives,  in  the  session  of  1840-41. 
Since  the  forniation  of  the  Republican  party,  he  has  hecn  'Svith  it," 
heartily,  but  luus  studiously  avoided  niinu^ling  in  its  councils. 

That  Hon.  Thomas  Druniinond  is  one  of  the  best  Judges  that  ever 
sat  upon  the  bench  of  any  court,  is  freely  conceded  by  all  Avho  have 
practioed  before  him.  His  knowledge  of  law  is  profound,  his  judgment 
accurate,  his  perceptions  acute,  his  attention  unwavering,  his  decisions 
just,  but  tempered  with  mercy,  and  his  opinions  models  of  logical  method, 
free  from  unnecessary  verbiage,  and  presenting  the  facts  and  the  law  in  the 
case  with  model  clearness,  fidlness  and  precision.  On  the  bench,  he  is  the 
embodiment  of  patience  and  unruffled  serenity;  he  listens  faithfully, 
giving  a  full  chance  to  every  one.  In  his  chambers,  he  goes  over  every 
point,  weighing  well  each  argument,  that  he  may  do  full  justice  to 
the  case,  and  not  dispose  of  one  which  has  not  been  fully  considered  in 
all  its  bearings  and  decided  without  cause  for  exception  or  appeal.  His 
decisions  are  delivered  very  methodically — in  measured  tones,  free  from 
the  assumption  of  arrogance,  but  with  a  quiet  dignity  which  carries  with 
it  conviction.  They  are  always  terse,  containing  nothing  more  and  no 
less  than  is  required,  and  so  admirably  framed  that  the  omission  of  a  word 
or  sentence  cannot  be  made  without  damaging  the  sense,  while  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  abstract  one  of  his  opinions  into  briefer  language  than 
that  in  which  he  has  delivered  it.  The  long  list  of  cases  which  he  has 
tried  shows  very  few  which  have  been  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court, 
except  where  he  has  made  a  nominal  decision,  intended  to  be  "carried 
up;"  and  the  records  will  need  long  searching  to  find  a  reversal  by  the 
high  court  of  the  nation. 

The  thoroughly  conscientious  manner  in  which  Judge  Drummond 
conducts  the  business  of  his  court  has  frequently  been  commented  on  by 
those  who  have  Avatched  his  course  most  narrowly.  In  all  cases  where 
the  shadow  of  a  supposition  could  exist  that  he  has  either  interest  or 
feeling,  he  directs  a  transfer. 

No  man  knows,  better  than  he,  hoAV  to  sustain  the  dignity  of  the  bench, 
unmoved  by  outside  considerations.  Amid  the  po])ular  tunudts  of  the 
rebellion  he  was  firm,  unyielding.  Several  times  he  was  required  t(»  take 
cognizance  of  questions  incident  to  the  national  struggle,  and  amid  them 
all  the  Court  was  as  unmoved  by  the  crash  of  contending  elements  as  if 
it  had  been  in  session  on  the  jdanet  Saturn.  Some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Republican  party  found  fault  with  him,  because  he  did   not  suffieiently 


120  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

sympathize  with  them  in  the  struggle;  they  have  since  conceded  the  exact 
justice  of  his  course,  and  admitted  that  he  must  be  a  man  of  great  inde- 
pendence and  strong  nerve,  who,  in  such  troublous  times,  could  hold  the 
balance  with  so  even  a  hand. 

He  was  married  at  Willow  Springs,  Lafayette  County,  "Wisconsin,  in 
1839,  to  Delia  A.,  second  daughter  of  John  P.  Sheldon,  Esq.,  of  that 
place.  The  result  of  that  marriage  has  been  seven  children — two  sons 
and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  still  living.  Himself  and  family 
belong  to  the  congregation  of  St.  James'  Episcopal  Church,  of  Chicago. 


i 


JOSEPH  RUSSELL  JONES. 


Joseph  Eussell  Jones,  the  present  United  States  Marshal  of  the 
Northern  District  of  Illinois,  and  President  of  the  Chicago  AYest  Division 
Railway  Company,  was  born  at  Conneaut,  Ashta,bula  County,  Ohio, 
February  17,  1823. 

His  father  dying  when  the  son  was  little  more  than  a  year  old,  left  his 
widow  and  a  young  family  with  but  slender  means  of  support,  and  the 
children,  at  the  threshold  of  life,  were  thus  deprived  of  nearly  all  those 
advantages  so  necessary  in  the  preparation  for  future  usefulness  and 
success. 

When  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  his  mother  removed  to  Rockton, 
Winnebago  County,  Illinois,  and  he  was  placed  in  a  store  in  Conneaut, 
where  he  remained,  paying  his  own  way  in  the  world,  for  tMO  years,  when 
he  determined  to  follow  the  family  and  seek  his  fortune  in  the  West. 
When  his  resolution  to  depart  became  known  to  the  leading  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Conneaut,  of  which  his  mother  had  been  a 
member  for  many  years,  they  endeavored  to  persuade  liim  to  remain  with 
them,  and  offered  to  provide  for  his  education  for  the  ministry  if  he  would 
do  so.  He  declined,  however,  as  his  decision  was  made,  and  was  not  to 
be  shaken;  and  taking  passage  with  Captain  Augustus  Todd,  in  the 
schooner  J.  G.  King,  he  made  his  first  landing  in  Chicago,  on  the  19th 
of  August,  1838. 

On  his  arrival,  ascertaining  that  the  weekly  stage  in  which  he  expected 
to  take  passage  for  Winnebago  County  had  ah'oady  left,  he  took  liis  little 
bundle,  containing  what  property  he  owned,  under  his  arm  and  proceeded 
about  the  place  to  find  means  of  transit,  and  was  so  fortunate  as  to  receive 
an  invitation  to  accompany  Colonel  Broadhcad  and  Judge  Fleming  in 


122  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

their  carriage  as  far  as  Rockford,  where  he  procured  a  horse  to  carry  him 
the  rest  of  his  journey  to  Rocktou,  then  Pecatonica.  Here  he  remained 
with  the  family,  rendering  such  assistance  as  Avas  in  his  power,  during  the 
next  two  years.  In  June,  1840,  he  went  to  Galena,  his  capital  consisting 
of  one  solitary  dollar  and  his  capability  to  accomplish  what  he  undertook. 

His  first  experience  in  Galena  was  in  a  retail  store,  where  he  was 
engaged  six  or  seven  months,  earning  only  his  support.  In  the  succeeding 
autumn,  however,  the  horizon  began  to  brighten.  He  entered  the 
employment  of  Benjamin  H.  Campbell,  one  of  the  leading  merchants 
in  that  active  town,  then  the  business  centre  of  the  Northwest.  He 
received  now  a  salary  of  three  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  and  being 
in  a  field  fitted  to  awaken  his  ambition  and  develop  those  qualities  which 
have  since  distinguished  him  as  a  man  of  marked  and  eminent  ability,  he 
soon  gave  such  evidence  of  superior  talents  as  secured  his  rapid  advance- 
ment and  an  early  partnership  in  his  employer's  business.  Prosperity 
now  dawned,  and  he  continued  in  successful  business  in  Galena  until 
1856,  when  the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Jones  retired. 

In  1846,  he  was  appointed  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Galena  and 
Minnesota  Packet  Company,  and  held  this  highly  important  position, 
with  great  acceptance,  for  fifteen  years. 

During  his  active  business  career,  Mr.  Jones  obtained  a  very  extensive 
and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  \yest.  Traveling  much,  and  making 
friends  everywhere,  there  was  scarcely  a  business  man  north  of  Galena 
with  whom  he  did  not  become  personally  acquainted. 

In  1860,  Mr.  Jones  was  nominated  by  the  Republican  party,  and 
elected  Meml:)er  of  the  twenty-second  General  Assembly  from  the  Galena 
District,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Jo  Daviess  and  Carroll.  He  soon 
became  one  of  the  most  active  and  influential  members  of  the  Legislature, 
and  was  prominently  identified  with  many  measures  of  great  public 
interest,  and  his  conduct  as  a  representative  received  the  high  approval, 
not  only  of  his  own  district,  but  of  the  whole  State. 

Mr.  Jones  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln,  in  1861,  to  the  ofiice 
of  United  States  Marshal  for  the  Northern  District  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  being  selected  from  among  many  ap]>licants  for  that  important 
position.  He  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  in  Marcli,  1861,  and 
in  the  autumn  of  that  year  removed  with  his  family  to  Chicago.  Upon 
the  commencement  of  his  second  Presidential  term,  in  1865,  Mr.  Lincoln 
re-appointed  Mr.  Jones,  Marshal. 


JOPEPH   RT'SSELL,   JOXES.  123 

Since  his  residence  in  Chicago,  he  has  been  intimately  identiiied  with 
numerous  objects  of  great  public  importance,  and  tending  much  to  the 
jiresent  progress  and  future  growth  of  Chicago.  In  18G3,  in  connection 
Avith  a  few  others,  he  purchased  from  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company, 
the  city  railway  lines  in  the  West  Division.  He  A-as  elected  President  of 
the  new  company,  and  has  ever  since  retained  the  position;  and  to  his 
great  executive  ability  and  successful  management  the  present  condition 
of  this  enterprise  is  largely  due.  The  company  have  now  more  than 
twenty  miles  of  track  on  Lake,  Randolph,  Madison,  Clinton,  Jetferson 
and  Halstead  streets,  and  Milwaukee  and  Blue  Island  avenues.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  are  employed,  and  fifty  ears  are  used. 

Mr.  Jones  is  also  President  of  the  Northwestern  Horse  Nail  Company, 
which  employs  over  thirty  men,  and  disburses  between  five  and  six 
hundred  dollars  daily,  in  the  manufacture  of  horse  shoe  nails  by 
machinery.     Their  nails  are  used  almost  everywhere  in  the  Northwest. 

Mr.  Jones  was  one  of  the  trusted  friends  of  the  late  President  Lincoln, 
who  reposed  in  him  the  fullest  confidence,  and  specially  summoned  him  to 
Washington,  for  consultation  on  matters  of  great  public  importance, 
during  the  Avar. 

Having  been  for  so  many  years  a  resident  of  Galena,  he  became 
intimately  acquainted  with  General  Grant,  and  his  early  and  Avarm  friend. 
This  friendship,  begun  before  the  war,  has  ever  since  continued.  The 
General  has  always  made  Mr.  Jones'  house  his  home  on  his  visits  to  this 
city,  and  close  personal  and  jDolitical  association  has  always  subsisted 
between  them. 

Mr.  Jones  has  always  been  identified  with  the  Presbyterian  form  of 
worship,  and  is  at  present  a  member  of  the  congregation  of  the  Third 
Church,  in  this  city — Rev.  Arthur  Swazey,  pastor. 

Mr,  Jones  Avas  married,  in  1848,  to  Elizabeth  Ann,  daughter  of 
the  late  Judge  Andrew  Scott,  of  Arkansas.  He  is  the  father  of  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  five  of  whom  are  now  living. 

In  his  family  record  there  is  much  of  historic  interest.  His  father, 
Joel  Jones,  Avas  born  at  Hebron,  Connecticut,  INfay  14,  1792,  and  Avas 
married,  September  13,  1815,  to  Miss  Maria  Dart.  Four  children  Avere 
born  to  them,  one  daughter  and  three  sons,  all  of  Avhom  are  now  living, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  youngest.  Joel  Jones  removed  to 
Conneaut,  Ohio,  in  1819.  He  Avas  the  sixth  son  of  Captain  Samuel  Jones, 
of  Hebron,  Connecticut,  A\ho  Avas  an   officer  in  the  French  and   Indian 


124  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

wars,  and  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  held  two  commissions  under 
George  II.  of  England.  Captain  Samuel  Jones  returned  from  the  war 
and  settled  in  Hebron,  Avhere  he  married  Miss  Lydia  Tarbox,  by  whom 
he  had  six  sons  and  four  daughters.  Nine  of  the  ten  lived  to  years  of 
maturity.  Samuel,  the  eldest  son,  Avas  a  lawyer,  and  practiced  his  pro- 
fession for  many  years  at  Stockbridge,  Massacliusetts.  He  was  a  man  of 
fine  cultivation  and  a  deep  thinker.  He  published,  in  1842,  a  treatise  on 
the  Right  of  Suffrage,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  only  work  written  on  this 
subject  by  an  American  author.  From  another  brother  descended  the 
late  Hon.  Joel  Jones,  the  first  President  of  Girard  College,  the  late 
Samuel  Jones,  M.  D.,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Matthew  Hale  Jones,  of 
Easton,  Pennsylvania.  From  a  third  brother  descended  Hon.  Anson 
Jones,  second  President  of  the  Republic  of  Texas. 

The  family  is  now  in  possession  of  a  letter  written  by  Captain  Samuel 
Jones  to  his  Avife,  at  Fort  Edward,  dated  August  18,  1758.  One  hundred 
and  ten  years  previous  to  the  date  of  that  letter,  his  ancestor.  Colonel 
John  Jones,  sat  at  "Westminster  as  one  of  the  Judges  of  King  Charles  I. 

Colonel  John  Jones  married  Henrietta  (Catharine),  the  second  sister  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  in  1623,  and  was  put  to  death  October  17,  1660,  on  the 
restoration  of  Charles  II,  His  son — Hon.  William  Jones — survived 
him,  and  one  year  before  his  father's  death  was  married  to  Miss  Hannah 
Eaton,  then  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Andrews,  Holden,  Epenton.  He 
subsequently  came  over  to  "these  American  Colonies"  with  his  father-in- 
law,  tlie  Hon.  Theophilus  Eaton,  first  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  New 
Haven  and  Connecticut,  where  he  occupied  the  office  of  Deputy  Governor 
for  some  years,  and  died  October  17,  1706.  He  and  his  wife  are  buried 
in  New  Haven,  under  the  same  stone  with  Governor  Eaton.  Thus,  it 
will  be  seen,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  is  of  good  Connecticut  stock. 

The  mother  of  Mr.  Jones  was  born  at  Chatham,  Connecticut,  March 
27,  1797.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Dart  and  Sarah  Hurd,  who 
were  married  at  Middle  Haddam,  Connecticut,  in  1792,  and  were  the 
parents  of  five  sons  and  nine  daughters.  Of  this  large  family,  eleven  are 
still  living,  one  of  whom,  Mrs  William  H.  Ovington,  is  now  a  resident 
of  Chicago.  In  1854,  the  entire  family,  with  one  exception,  met  at  the 
old  homestead  in  Middle  Haddam,  to  celebrate  the  sixty-second  marriage 
anniversary  of  the  parents.  The  exception  was  Judge  Ashbel  Dart,  who 
died  at  Conneaut,  Ohio,  in  1844,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  At  this  family 
reunion    were    a   brother   and  sister    of   Mrs.   Dart,   aged   respectively 


JOSEPH   EUSSELL   JONES.  125 

ninety-two  and  a  half  and  ninety-nine  and  a  half  years.  The  averao-e 
age  of  the  four  "old  folks"  was  ninety  years,  and  more  than  a  thousand 
years  of  kindred  life  Avas  represented  at  that  family  meeting. 

Joseph  Eussell  Jones  is  a  man  of  great  force  and  decision  of  character, 
and  has  achieved  a  position  in  life  in  the  face  of  tlie  most  forbidding 
difficulties  and  disadvantages,  and  bears  an  influence  in  society  only  to  be 
won  through  the  active  exercise  of  those  qualities  which  belong  to  a  large 
brain  and  kind  heart.  Endowed  with  those  natural  gifts  whicli  elevate 
the  character,  and  finding  leisure  during  a  lite  absorbed  in  extensive  and 
complicated  business  pursuits  for  intellectual  and  social  culture,  observing 
closely  and  thinking  well,  he  possesses  a  fine  taste  and  a  ripe  and  mature 
judgment.  In  business  life,  he  has  ever  been  distinguished  for  liberality 
and  strict  integrity,  and,  socially,  for  the  largest  hospitality  and  devotion 
to  the  interests  of  his  friends,  by  whom  he  is  esteemed  and  valued  with  a 
warmth  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  very  few. 


THOMAS  CHUHCH. 


No  brighter  example  of  the  success  attendant  on  strict  integrity  of 
purpose,  unswerving  pertinacity,  and  untiring  industry,  unaided  by  the 
gifts  of  fortune  or  the  advantages  of  early  education,  is  afforded  in  the 
city  of  Chicago  than  that  of  Thomas  Church,  Esq.,  one  of  its  oldest 
citizens  and  most  reliable  men.  He  began  life  poor,  and,  coming  to  this 
city  while  yet  it  was  little  better  than  a  wilderness,  has  built  up  a  fortune 
and  an  honorable  name,  by  legitimate  trading  alone,  avoiding  the  land 
speculations  which  formed  the  foundation  of  the  wealth  of  so  many  of  our 
now  leading  citizens. 

Thomas  Church  was  born  November  8,  1801,  in  the  town  and  county 
of  Onondaga,  New  York.  He  was  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  seven 
children,  and  was  early  brought  under  the  rule  of  a  stepfather,  Thomas 
Yates.  In  early  infancy,  Mr.  Church  moved,  with  the  family,  to  Mar- 
cellus,  in  the  same  county,  where  his  stepfather  kept  a  small  distillery, 
and  followed  teaming  in  the  proper  season.  When  Thomas  was  twelve 
years  of  age,  they  moved  to  Benton,  Ontario  County.  Here,  the  careful 
liabits  which  have  distinguished  Mr.  Church  in  his  after-life  began  to 
show  themselves.  One  of  his  first  experiences  in  his  new  home  was  the 
earning  of  six  and  a  quarter  cents  by  a  day's  labor  at  picking  stones. 
The  coin  was  carefully  laid  by,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  his  future 
savings.  Tl)e  stepfather  then  took  a  farm,  but  sold  out  at  the  end  of  a 
year;  did  the  same  thing  next  year,  and,  when  Thomas  was  fourteen, 
moved  to  the  Holland  Purchase,  in  Genesee  County — then  on  the  very 
outskirts  of  civilization.  Here  they  entered  a  log  house,  situated  upon  a 
cleared  field  of  four  acres,  and  denuded  of  timber  six  acres  of  dense  woods 
per  annum,  fur  four  consecutive  years.     During  this  time,  Thomas  went  to 


128  BIOGEAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

school  when  lie  could  be  spared  in  winter,  but  his  opportunities  were  so 
limited  that  he  made  little  progress  in  his  book  studies. 

In  the  year  1821,  when  three  months  short  of  nineteen,  he  left  home. 
A  little  difficulty  occurred  with  a  younger  brother,  about  that  inevitable 
treasure  of  an  Eastern  youth — the  jack-knife — and  the  stepfather  deciding 
against  Thomas,  he  threw  down  his  axe  and  jumped  the  bars,  leaving 
home  forever,  at  a  moment's  warning,  but  not,  however,  without  being 
prompted  to  do  so  by  his  father.  He  went  to  work  for  a  man  who  kept  a 
grist,  an  oil  and  a  saw-mill,  three  miles  from  his  old  home.  He  was  paid 
at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per  year,  as  follows:  Fifteen 
dollars  in  cash,  fifteen  dollars  in  an  order  on  a  dry  goods  store,  and  the 
balance,  half  in  neat  stock  and  half  in  grain,  at  barter  price.  In  those 
days,  a  bushel  of  wheat  was  reckoned  at  fifty  cents,  or  the  value  of  a 
day's  work,  Avhereas,  it  was  impossible  to  realize  over  thirty-seven  and  a 
lialf  cents  for  it  in  cash.  His  duties  were  onerous,  but  he  soon  gained 
the  confidence  of  his  emjiloyer,  and  went  to  the  adjacent  village  and  did 
the  trading,  thus  gaining  his  first  ideas  of  mercantile  business.  He  was 
not  so  rapid  a  Avorker  as  some,  but  lie  had  a  wonderful  iaculty  of  con- 
tinuity. In  that  first  year  he  lost  but  five  days,  two  of  which  were 
occupied  in  militia  training,  two  in  paying  the  road-tax,  and  one  in 
getting  his  new  clothes  cut.  These  he  made  up,  and  fourteen  days 
additional,  by  over-time.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  he  exchanged  his  barter 
for  a  small  farm.  Twelve  months  after  that,  he  sold  his  land  for  cash, 
and  at  the  end  of  two  and  a  half  years,  he  owned  two  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  dollars  in  money,  a  good  suit  of  clothes  and  a  loving  wife. 
He  married  the  object  of  his  affections — Miss  Rachel  Warriner — in  the 
autumn  of  1823,  and  went  to  Chautauqua  County,  New  York,  where  he 
took  a  thirty  days'  refusal  of  a  small  farm,  built  a  log  house  on  it  for 
himself  and  wife  to  live  in,  and  then  started  for  Buffalo,  walking  thirty 
miles,  to  fetch  the  effects  needed  to  make  his  new  home  comfortable. 

How  little  an  event  may  change  the  tenor  of  a  life !  Mr.  Church  was 
detained  in  Buffalo  by  a  heavy  snow-storm,  and  passed  the  waiting  hours 
in  the  store  of  a  friend.  The  question  flashed  across  his  mind — ''Why 
cannot  I  follow  a  business  life,  instead  of  being  buried  in  the  woods  ? " 
He  asked  the  opinion  of  his  wife,  and  then  her  consent  to  the  change. 
She  was  quite  willing.  The  young  couple  moved  to  Buffalo  in  February, 
1824,  and  Mr.  Church  worked  in  company  with  a  brother  for  a  short  time. 
Buffalo  was  then  a  village  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants.    The 


THOMAS    CHURCH.  129 

brotliei-s  chopped  Avood  in  payment  for  Innibtr,  and  succeeded,  ere  long, 
in  erecting  a  house  on  Commercial  street,  near  the  head  of  the  present 
canal,  which  Avas  occupied  by  the  newly-married  couple.  The  place 
M-as  still  unfinished,  when  it  was  found  that  the  little  capital  had  dwindled 
down  to  fifteen  dollars  in  cash.  Fourteen  of  this  Avas  invested  in  a  stock 
of  goods.  Mr.  Church's  first  trade  was  a  failure;  he  sold  three  cents' 
worth  of  goods,  and  gave  change  for  a  bad  one  dollar  bill.  It  was  a 
humiliating  experience,  but  a  valuable  one;  he  never  took  bad  money 
again.  The  first  year  netted  him  two  hundred  dollars,  and  satisfied  him 
that  he  was  on  the  right  track.  He  staid  in  that  store  ten  years,  in  w  hich 
time  the  value  of  the  lot  had  increased  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
to  four  thousand  dollars,  he  having  helped  to  enhance  it,  by  digging  with 
his  own  hands  that  portion  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Canal  where  the 
bridge  now  stands.  He  was  now  worth  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars,  and,  having  heard  glowing  predictions  of  the  greatness  of 
Chicago,  he  decided  to  make  it  the  scene  of  his  future  labors.  He  arrived 
here  June  2,  1834,  in  a  boat,  having  come  without  a  pilot  from 
Mackinac.  Chicago  then  contained  but  four  hundred  inhabitants,  inclu- 
ding the  mixed  bloods,  besides  two  hundred  soldiers  in  Fort  Dearborn. 
His  experience  in  the  rise  in  value  of  property  in  Buffalo  had  induced 
him  to  determine  to  buy  the  land  on  Avhich  he  should  locate.  Not  being 
able  to  find  a  lot  for  sale  on  South  "Water  street — then  the  only  business 
street — he  bought  forty  feet  on  what  is  noAV  Lake  street  (Nos.  Ill  and 
113),  the  street  then  not  being  laid  out,  except  on  paper.  He  erected  a 
little  dwelling,  and  moved  in.  During  the  autumn,  he  built  a  store,  in 
size  twenty  by  forty  feet,  and  two  and  a  half  stories  high — the  first  seen 
fronting  on  Lake  street.  He  bought  a  raft  of  timber,  and  had  it  sawed  , 
with  the  whip-saAv.  He  went  to  Buffalo  in  the  spring,  and  bought  one 
thousand  dollars'  Avorth  of  groceries  and  provisions.  These  he  sold  at 
good  profits,  and  found  jilenty  of  patrons.  He  rented  the  second  story  of 
his  store  to  James  Whitlock,  Registrar,  and  E.  D.  Taylor,  United  States 
Receiver,  Avho  opened  a  land  office,  and  in  the  first  tAvo  Aveeks  sold  over 
half  a  million  dollars'  Avorth  of  real  estate.  That  building  was  about  the 
busiest  in  the  place.  The  increase  of  trade  soon  demanded  an  extension, 
and  the  store  Avas  made  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  feet  deep,  and  filled 
AA'ith  goods.  The  young  merchant  had  almost  unlimited  credit  in  New 
York,  and,  being  able  to  keep  a  full  stock,  offered  advantages  not  to  be 
found  evcrsAvhere  else.     He  Avas,  hoAvevcr,  nearly  broken  up;  he  put  his 


130  EIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

name  to  a  note  for  four  thousand  dollars  for  a  Chicago  house  with  which 
he  did  business,  and  was  called  upon  to  j)ay  it.  The  blow  staggered  him, 
but  he  pulled  through,  and  flourished  in  the  midst  of  the  financial  storm 
which  caused  the  ruin  of  so  many. 

The  year  1837  was  one  of  his  best.  He  had  avoided  land  speculation, 
kept  his  means  >\ell  in  hand,  and  contracted  no  debts  which  he  could  not 
pay.  It  was  the  time  of  the  Michigan  "wild-cat"  excitement,  and  soon  the 
people  began  to  be  afraid  of  the  money;  they  were  willing  to  j)art  with  it, 
and  trade  was  brisk.  That  year  his  cash  sales  amounted  to  over  forty-one 
thousand  dollars.  In  1839  occurred  the  first  fire  in  Chicago;  the  old 
Tremont  House,  with  the  block  of  which  it  formed  a  part,  was  burned 
down.  Mr.  Church  narrowly  escaped  the  loss  of  his  buildings,  and 
determined  to  avoid  such  dangers  in  future.  He  moved  away  his  wooden 
structure,  and  erected  two  fine  fire-proof  brick  stores,  four  stories  high. 

The  same  year,  Mr.  Church  bought  six  lots  on  Lake  and  South  Water 
streets  and  ]Michigan  avenue,  which,  with  his  improvements,  would 
amount  to  ten  thousand  dollars.  They  are  now  among  the  most  valuable 
in  the  city. 

In  1840,  he  took  Mr.  M.  L.  Satterlee  into  partnership.  Their  stock 
consisted  of  groceries,  paints,  oils,  glass,  nails,  iron,  and  domestic  dry 
goods.  The  next  three  years  prices  declined,  and  the  firm,  being 
unwilling  to  sell  at  a  loss,  did  comparatively  little  business.  In  April, 
1843,  the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Church  closed  up  business, 
going  into  real  estate,  in  which  he  was  very  successful.  On  closing  up 
his  mercantile  business,  he  estimated  the  value  of  his  property  at  thirty- 
seven  thousand  dollars. 

]\Ir,  Church,  as  a  merchant,  was  careful  and  reliable.  He  always 
made  it  a  rule  not  to  obtain  credit  for  more  than  half  the  amount  of  goods 
actually  paid  for  in  store,  and  thus  had  always  two  dollars  with  which  to 
pay  one.  Even  this  limit  was  seldom  reached.  He  was  ever  prompt  in 
payment,  and  gained  thus  a  reputation  which  was  of  as  much  value  to 
him  as  double  the  amount  of  his  capital. 

Mr.  Church  was  persuaded,  about  this  time,  to  run  for  Mayor,  asking 
the  suffrages  of  the  Whig  party.  He  was  beaten,  and  has  often  said, 
since,  that  he  was  glad  of  it.  He  was  soon  afterwards  appointed  City 
Assessor  for  the  South  Division,  and  retained  the  office  for  fourteen 
years.  He  has  also  been  often  appointed  on  special  committees  to  assess 
damages  and  benefits  by  street  improvements.     He  has  been  appointed  a 


THOMAS   CHURCH.  131 

Commissioner  for  partitioning  estates,  for  establishing  dock  lines,  etc.,  and 
served  ten  years  in  the  volunteer  fire  department.  In  1855,  the  Chicago 
Firemen's  Insurance  Company  was  founded,  and  Mr.  Church  was  elected 
President,  M'liich  position  he  has  ever  since  retained.  In  1862,  he  was 
elected  President  of  the  Chicago  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  but 
declined  in  favor  of  H.  H.  Magie,  and  was  made  Vice-President.  He 
retained  the  office  until  the  company  was  dissolved. 

The  last  twenty-three  years  of  his  life  have  been  spent  in  comparative 
retirement,  attending  only  to  the  management  of  his  property,  and 
occasionally  traveling.  He  has  visited  Washington — being  there  at  the 
inauguration  of  President  Lincoln — New  Orleans,  Minnesota,  Montreal, 
and  other  places,  ahvays  in  company  with  his  wife.  The  crash  of  1857, 
and  the  subsequent  dull  period,  was  felt  by  him,  his  property  at  one  time 
depreciating  one  thousand  dollars  daily  for  one  hundred  days;  but  he  was 
on  too  firm  a  basis  to  be  injured  by  the  financial  storm.  He  never  paid 
less  than  one  hundred  cents  on  the  dollar,  always  paid  his  debts  promptly, 
and  never  was  party  to  a  lawsuit  which  required  an  argument  from  his 
attorney. 

Since  Mr.  Church  retired  from  mercantile  pursuits,  his  principal  hobby 
has  been  the  erection  of  brick  stores.  At  the  present  writing  he  is  the 
owner  of  no  less  than  seventeen,  which  is  more,  we  believe,  than  is  owned 
by  any  other  man  in  Chicago.  In  the  changes  of  grade  that  our  city  has 
undergone  from  time  to  time,  he  has  been  compelled  to  raise  thirteen  of 
his  stores,  by  screw  power,  from  four  to  six  feet.  Two  have  been  rebuilt, 
and  only  two  remain  on  the  original  grade. 

Mr.  Church  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  (married  1823) 
died  in  April,  1839.  She  had  borne  him  five  children,  the  three  eldest 
of  whom  died  at  an  early  age,  The  two  youngest — daughters — survived. 
He  married,  November  5,  1839,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Pruyne,  widow  of  Senator 
Pruyne,  of  this  State,  who  had  one  daughter.  The  three  have  since 
married  George  A.  Ingalls,  C.  D.  Kimbark,  and  E.  Ingals,  M.  D. 

Although  Mr.  Church  has  never  troubled  the  Patent  Office  with 
an  application  for  protection,  yet  his  inventive  genius  has  not  been  idle. 
With  him,  as  with  thousands  of  otliers,  his  own  special  wants  demanding 
a  certain  end,  his  mind  ruminated  upon  it  until  it  was  produced  to  his 
satisfaction.  Being,  as  we  have  already  stated,  engaged  for  many  years  past 
in  real  estate  transactions,  and  having  much  business  to  attend  to  day  by 
day,  he  felt  the  want  of  a  simple,  and  yet  accurate,  system  of  bookkeeping 


132  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

This  want  lie  has  supplied  perfectly,  in  the  invention  of  a  system  which, 
whilst  it  is  original  with  himself,  yet  is  exceedingly  simple  and  compre- 
hensive. It  enables  him  at  a  glance  to  see  the  state  of  his  account  with 
any  one  through  a  complicated  list  of  transactions,  and  the  liability  to 
mistakes  is  comparatively  remov^ed.  It  is  often  the  case  that,  by  casting 
aside  the  scholastic  routine  of  figuring  out  a  sum,  and  coming  down  to  a 
common  sense  way  of  doing  it,  the  end  is  reached  by  a  much  simpler 
method.  It  is  just  so  with  this  harmonious  arrangement  of  Mr.  Church's, 
and  we  doubt  not  he  has  saved  many  a  hard  headache  by  adopting  it. 

Personally,  Mr.  Church  is  a  very  mild,  unassuming  man,  exceedingly 
unobtrusive,  and  was  quite  bashful  in  his  youth.  He  has  been  strictly 
temperate  from  an  early  age,  and  never  made  use  of  an  oath.  But, 
though  quiet,  he  was  always  a  doer,  and  a  keen  observer  of  men  and 
things.  When  we  take  into  account  his  small  beginnings,  and  then 
remember  that  he  is  now  in  possession  of  a  yearly  income,  from  rents 
alone,  of  thirty-seven  thousand  dollars,  Ave  feel  justified  in  pointing  out  to 
our  young  men  a  life  so  successful  as  this  as  worthy  of  all  imitation. 


WILBUE  F.  STOREY. 


Journalism  is  a  profession  to  which  many  are  called,  and  from  which 
few  are  chosen  to  enjoy  a  supreme  success.  It  is  a  department  of  effort 
in  which  the  fortunate  are  the  inverse,  in  number,  of  those  ensfaofed  in  it. 
The  newspapers  which  live  and  are  prosperous,  the  journalists  who  have 
achieved  a  substantial  fortune,  are  to  those  that  have  met  with  disaster 
what  the  aggregate  of  tlie  living  of  men  are  to  the  dead. 

A  success  which  is  so  rare  is  not  likely  to  be  the  result  of  mere  chance 
or  good  fortune.  It  is  something  which  must  be  schemed,  labored  and 
sought  for.  Eare  and  exceptional  in  its  character,  those  who  attain  it  are 
necessarily  more  or  less  of  the  same  nature.  The  man  who,  by  patient 
perseverance,  arduous  effort,  and  well-conceived  and  properly  executed 
plans,  succeeds  in  any  department,  will  be  found,  upon  analysis,  to  possess 
a  character  unlike  that  of  the  mass  of  ordinary  men.  The  exigencies  of 
success  require  peculiar  instruments,  as  the  rarer  and  more  difficult  resuhs 
in  mechanism  demand  different  tools  from  those  used  in  ordinary 
operations. 

These  essential  and  necessary  variations  in  character,  by  whicli  the 
individuality  of  men  is  shaped  with  reference  to  certain  ends  to  be  accom- 
plished, should  be  kept  in  view  when  one  attempts  to  comprehend  the 
life  and  actions  of  another.  These  rarer  organizations  do  not  necessarily 
differ  from  others  in  all  respects.  Men  who  possess  them  may  be  benevo- 
lent, kindly-natured,  fond  of  social  intercourse,  and,  in  a  thousand 
particulars,  may  not  be  unlike  other  men.  Nevertheless,  in  such  cases, 
there  will  be  found  certain  traits  and  combinations,  a  rigidity,  a  something 
which  bears  little  or  no  resemblance  to  the  more  usual  composition  of 
human  nature. 


134  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Wilbur  F.  Storey  was  born  December  19,  1819,  in  Salisbury, 
Vermont.  His  family  is  a  collateral  of  the  Story  family  of  which  the 
well-known  jurist  was  a  member. 

The  first  ten  years  of  Mr.  Storey's  life  were  passed  on  the  farm  of  his 
parents.  During  this  period  he  attended  the  district  school,  and  probably 
spent  his  leisure  hours  as  do  most  boys  in  the  country.  When  ten  years 
of  age,  the  father  of  Mr.  Storey  moved  into  Middlebury,  a  village  which 
possessed  a  newspaper,  known  as  the  "Middlebury  Free  Press."  Into  the 
office  of  this  journal  Mr.  Storey  went,  about  one  year  later,  to  learn  the 
printing  business.  That  he  took  the  step  advisedly  is  hardly  probable; 
but  he  was,  perhaps,  induced  to  enter  a  printing  office  because  to  him,  as 
with  most  boys  fresh  from  the  dairy  and  hay-mow,  there  was  no  vista  so 
dazzling  and  inviting  as  that  which  opened  and  revealed  the  mysteries 
of  a  press  and  a  printing  office. 

He  remained  in  the  "Free  Press"  office  until  seventeen  years  of  age, 
with  the  exception  of  a  single  winter,  during  which  he  absented  himself 
from  the  "case"  to  attend  a  village  school.  This  winter's  term,  and  his 
attendance  at  the  district  school  before  going  to  Middlebury,  comprehend 
all  the  school  advantages  which  he  ever  enjoyed. 

Remaining  in  the  printing  office  until  he  was  seventeen,  he  then 
concluded  to  start  in  life  for  himself.  He  had  saved  some  seventeen 
dollars;  to  this,  ten  dollars  was  added  by  his  mother;  and  with  this 
capital,  and  his  parents'  blessing,  he  commenced  life  for  himself.  Like 
Douglas,  he  found  Vermont  a  good  State  to  emigrate  from  early  in  life, 
which  he  proceeded  to  do  by  going  to  New  York. 

Of  the  peculiarities  of  Mr.  Storey  as  a  boy — of  what  consisted  that 
portion  of  the  life  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  parent  of  the  man — 
nothing  is  known  to  the  writer  of  this  sketch.  It  is  said  that  he  was 
quiet,  retiring,  industrious.  He  rarely  went  into  society,  and  seemed 
much  the  same  grave,  self-possessed,  deliberate  youth  that  is  reproduced 
to-day  in  the  man.  He  had  the  same  reticence,  the  same  apparent  self- 
intercommunication,  that  distinguish  him  to-day.  In  his  case,  the  idea 
that  the  child  is  father  to  the  man  has  probably  been  in  nowise  refuted. 

Upon  reaching  New  York,  Mr.  Storey  secured  a  situation  as  a 
compositor  on  the  "Journal  of  Commerce."  He  worked  at  the  case  a 
year  and  a  half;  and,  in  the  spring  of  1838,  he  determined  to  try 
fortune  in  the  West.  During  his  stay  in  New  York,  he  was  economical 
to  an  extent  which  enabled  him  to  reach  Laporte,  in  Indiana,  with  a  cash 


wiLRri;  r.  storkv.  13") 

capitiil  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  His  first  stopjjing  place  was  at 
South  Bend;  but,  learning  that  the  Democrats  of  Laporte  were  about  to 
establish  a  newspaper,  he  went  down  to  the  latter  place,  and  soon  made 
an  arrano-ement  whereby  he  M'as  to  run  the  mechanical  portion  of  the  new 
paper,  while  the  Avell-known  Ned  Hannegan — subsequently  United  States 
Senator,  and  somewhat  notorious  in  connection  with  General  Cass  for  his 
participation  in  the  "54-40  or  fight"  excitement — was  a  volunteer  editor. 
Mr.  Storey  Avas  then  between  eighteen  and  nineteen,  and  he  undoubtedly 
supposed  that  he  had  at  length  entered  upon  the  highway  to  fortune. 
There  were,  however,  many  disappointments  in  store  for  the  young 
adventurer;  and  the  first  was  in  finding  that  his  partner,  however 
successful  as  a  politician  and  a  bon  vivant,  was  a  failure  as  an  editor. 
Matters  reached  a  condition,  finally,  that  rendered  a  separation  necessary, 
and  the  entire  control  of  the  newspaper  fell  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Storey. 
The  time  was  unfavorable,  or  else  he  did  not  possess  that  lien  upon 
fortune  which  he  now  holds,  for  the  enterprise  failed,  and  in  its  ruins 
was  buried  the  carefully  economized  capital  which  he  had  saved  in  New 
York. 

As  an  instance  of  the  character  of  the  country  at  that  time,  Mr,  Storey 
sometimes  relates  that  he  once  was  obliged  to  come  to  Chicago  for  paper. 
Getting  as  far  as  Michigan  City,  he  made  the  journey  to  Chicago,  after 
innumerable  delays,  on  an  Indian  pony,  and  returned  the  same  way,  there 
being  no  other  conveyance.  The  future  head  of  "The  Times"  establish- 
ment, jogging  into  town  on  his  pony,  scarcely  foresaw  either  his  own 
futui'c  or  that  of  the  city  with  which  he  is  identified. 

He  was  engaged  with  the  newspaper  a  year,  and  then  purchased  a 
drug  store,  which  venture,  like  his  initiatory  one,  was  a  failure. 

The  Democrats  of  Mishawaka,  about  this  time,  started  the  "Tocsin." 
Mr.  Storey  went  over,  edited  the  paper  a  year  and  a  half,  and  then 
removed  to  Jackson,  Michigan.  At  this  point,  with  ikj  very  definite 
purpose,  save  discipline,  in  view,  he  applied  himself  ibr  two  years  to 
reading  law,  and  then  started  the  "Jackson  Patriot,"  which  succeeded  in 
displacing  the  Democratic  newspaper  already  in  existence. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  and  a  half,  he  was  made  Postmaster  by  Polk, 
and  held  the  position  until  turned  out  by  Taylor.  He  disposed  of  the 
"Patriot"  upon  becoming  Postmaster;  and  when  he  left  tlie  office,  in 
1848,  he  entered  again  into  a  drug  store,  and  added  to  it  a  stock  of 
groceries,  books  and  stationery. 


136  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

During  his  residence  in  Jackson,  lie  mingled  constantly  in  politics, 
and  soon  attained  a  reputation  which  extended  throughout  the  State.  In 
1 850,  he  was  elected  to  the  Constitutional  Convention,  over  Blair,  by  a 
heavy  majority,  despite  a  formidable  coalition  which  was  formed  to  defeat 
him.  He  obtained  a  powerful  influence  in  the  shaping  of  conventions; 
acted  as  Inspector  of  the  State  Prison;  and  was  in  a  fair  way  to  have 
secured  any  official  position  which  he  desired.  Nevertheless,  his  editorial 
aspirations  had  not  left  him ;  and  when  an  opportunity  offered  to  secure 
an  interest  in  the  "Detroit  Free  Press"  by  using  his  influence  in  a  certain 
direction,  he  availed  himself  of  it,  and  soon  after  found  himself  the  owner 
of  a  one-sixth  interest  in  that  newspaper.  He  at  once  gave  up  his  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  and  removed  to  Detroit. 

This  was  in  1853.  The  "Free  Press,"  at  that  time,  was  devoid  of 
circulation,  influence,  management  or  ability.  It  was  a  pecuniary  loss  to 
its  owners,  and  no  particular  credit  to  the  party  which  it  rejDresented. 

It  will  best  illustrate  Mr.  Storej'^s  success  to  state  concisely  that, 
entering  upon  the  "Free  Press"  as  one-half  owner,  he  soon  became  sole 
proprietor;  that  he  rescued  the  journal  from  the  helplessness  into  which  it 
had  fallen;  made  it  respected  and  influential;  and  that,  at  the  end  of 
eight  years,  he  had  not  only  paid  for  the  entire  concern,  but  had  accumu- 
lated from  its  earnings  some  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

This  brilliant  success  was  not  the  result  of  accident  or  good  fortune, 
simply,  but  of  superior  calculation,  and,  above  all,  of  downright,  arduous 
labor.  For  six  years  he  performed  all  the  editorial  labor  of  the  paper 
without  any  assistance;  for  two  years  only  did  he  allow  himself  a  single 
assistant.  During  these  six  years,  no  slave  ever  gave  himself  more 
completely  to  his  labor  than  did  the  ambitious  editor.  He  was  invariably 
the  first  man  to  reach  the  office  in  the  morning,  and  he  never  left  till  the 
next  morning,  when  the  "  forms "  were  all  locked,  ready  for  the  press.  It 
was  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  for  him  to  lie  down  upon  his  table  at 
four  o'Uock  in  the  morning,  and  at  eight  o'clock — four  hours  later — to 
be  ready  to  resume  the  labors  of  the  day. 

Such  exertion  deserved  success,  and  it  Avon  it.  But  with  this  labor 
was  combined  a  not  less  essential  feature,  in  the  shape  of  an  admirable 
distribution  and  organization  of  his  forces.  He  labored  to  make  each 
department  of  his  paper  a  machine  so  perfect  in  its  structure  that,  while 
its  own  motion  was  unbroken  and  direct  in  its  operation,  it  also  geared 
into,  and  operated  harmoniously  with,  each  of  the  other  departments.     In 


WIMU'R    F.    STOKKY.  137 

this  way,  he  succeeded  in  producin<^  a  inaximiiin  of'efi'eet  with  u  miniiuuiu 
of  force. 

While  doing  all  his  editorial  writing,  and  scissoring,  and  correspon- 
dence, he  was  vigilant  and  untiring  in  his  superintendence  of  every  effort 
connected  with  his  enterprise.  He  watched  and  knew  every  detail  of  the 
business  management;  he  originated  the  mechanical  eflfects  produced  l)v 
gradations  of  types  and  headings;  he  was  present  at  the  "making-uj)," 
and  ordered  the  disposition  of  every  handful  of  "matter"  as  it  went  into 
the  "forms."  Not  a  "rule,"  or  "dash,"  or  letter  could  be  misplaced 
without  an  instant  detection  and  remedy  of  the  error. 

Of  the  intellectual  and  political  value  Avhich  he  gave  to  the  "Free 
Press,"  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak,  further  than  to  say  that  he  rescued  it 
from  nonentity  and  made  it  the  most  powerful  Democratic  newspaper  of" 
the  West.  He  not  only  made  the  "  Free  Press "  what  it  was,  but  he 
elevated  himself  from  comparative  poverty  to  a  position  of  comfortable 
independence. 

In  1861,  he  had  improved  his  paper  all  that  could  be  borne  by  the 
extent  and  capabilities  of  the  country  and  population  among  Avhom  it  was 
published.  Like  the  Macedonian,  he  sighed  for  a  new  world  to  conquer. 
He  felt  himself  capable  of  managing  a  larger  business,  or  controlling  a 
greater  department.  After  much  balancing  between  Cincinnati  and 
Chicago,  with  a  sagacity  that  time  has  abundantly  justified,  he  determined 
upon  selecting  the  latter  as  his  new  and  more  extended  field, — the  other 
world  sighed  for  by  the  journalistic  Alexander. 

The  position  of  the  "Chicago  Times,"  in  1861,  is  well  known.  From 
the  once  influential  organ  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  it  had  deteriorated  until 
its  influence  was  at  zero,  and  its  circulation  less  than  two  thousand. 
AVhen,  in  1861,  Mr.  Storey  bought  it,  it  was  a  newspaper  in  nothing  but 
the  name.  It  is  but  a  little  over  six  years  since  he  assumed  the  ownership 
of  it;  and  to-day  it  is,  in  news,  enterprise,  vigor  and  influence,  one  of 
the  foremost  newspapers  of  the  continent. 

This  success  was  not,  however,  accomplished  without  enormous  labor, 
prodigious  sacrifices  and  infinite  difficulty.  The  work  of  resurrecting  the 
"Times"  was  scarcely  less  a  miraculous  labor  than  raising  the  Lazarus 
from  the  dead  who  had  laid  in  the  grave  until  he  stank. 

Among  the  legends  of  treasure-seekers,  it  is  said  tiiat,  to  find  a  buried 
fortune,  it  was  necessary  to  first  bury  some  silver,  as  a  propitiation  to  the 
genius  that  guarded  the  hidden  jewels.     The  sums  which  Mr.  Storey  used 


lo8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

to  propitiate  the  buried  fortunes  of  the  "Times"  were  frightful.  Not 
less  than  forty  thousand  dollars  was  thus  invested  before  the  propitiation 
was  completed  and  the  whereabouts  of  the  buried  coffers  revealed.  Once 
found,  they  amply  repaid  the  propitiatory  investment. 

The  first  three  or  four  years  of  Mr.  Storey's  connection  with  the 
"  Times,"  his  life  was  a  close  repetition  of  his  labors  in  Detroit.  He  went 
to  work  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos;  to  introduce  organization  where 
there  was  simple  crudity,  and  discipline  where  all  was  laxity  and  irrespon- 
sibility. During  this  period,  he  performed  the  duties  of  the  editorial 
proper  with  a  single  assistant;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  gave  minute 
attention  to  the  smallest  details  of  every  department.  In  time,  the  effect 
of  these  labors  became  visible.  Well-drilled  corps  took  the  place  of  the 
mob  that  formerly  controlled  the  establishment.  Each  department 
became  more  and  more  perfect,  until  now,  when  it  is  self-operating. 
Gradually  he  increased  his  editorial  assistants,  and  in  proportion  lightened 
himself  of  the  drudgery  of  composition. 

At  the  present  moment,  his  establishment  is  self-acting.  Every  depart- 
ment operates  independently,  and  in  beautiful  harmony  with  the  whole. 
The  editor-in-chief  has  gradually  intrusted  more  and  more,  until  there  is 
little  left  for  him  to  do,  save  to  observe  and  maintain  an  active  supervision. 
Everything  in  his  office  has  the  regularity  of  clock-work.  Each  subor- 
dinate has  his  duties;  each  department  its  known  labors;  and  each  has 
been  disciplined  into  a  thorough  competency  to  perform  its  precise  effort, 
and  to  execute  it  well. 

These  independent  parts,  forming  a  harmonious  whole,  are  the  results 
of  an  executive  ability  of  a  high  order.  They  are  the  combination  of 
mechanical  exactness  with  intellectual  force.  AVhat  this  combination 
accomplishes  may  be  understood  by  those  who  observe  its  direct  effect — 
the  "Chicago  Times." 

These  observations  upon  that  journal  are  not  made  to  bring  into 
especial  notice  its  excellencies,  or  otherwise,  but  solely  to  give  prominence 
to  the  qualities  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  As  a  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruits,  so  is  an  editor  known  by  his  newspaper.  Like  himself,  it  Avill  be 
puny  or  vigorous,  enterprising  or  its  opposite,  slovenly  or  exact,  alive  or 
moribund.  One  can  read  the  editor  in  his  newspaper,  as  he  can  discover 
bis  own  reflection  in  a  mirror. 

An  analysis  of  Mr.  Storey's  character  is  an  operation  attended  with  no 
sDiall  difficulty.    He  possesses  what  a  certain  class  of  thinkers  term  egoism, 


WILBUR   F.  STOREY.  139 

in  its  higher  meanings.  It  is  a  word  which  applies  more  especially  to 
self-poised  men;  those  who  think  and  work  from  themselves  outwardly, 
instead  of  being  impressed  or  governed  in  the  reverse  direction.  Such 
a  character  afiects,  and  is  but  little  affected  by,  what  surrounds  it.  It  is 
generally  found  in  men  who  have  a  governing  ability.  Its  eflfect  is  to 
make  its  possessor  self-reliant.  Such  a  one  depends  much  upon  himself, 
and  little  or  none  upon  others.  He  may  ask  advice,  but  he  seldom  or 
never  acts  upon  it.  Such  characters  have  usually  a  seeming  of  intense 
selfishness,  but  Avhat  is  mistaken  for  this  quality  is  really  self-dependence, 
and  the  peculiar  conformation  of  a  disposition  'pervaded  with  this  egoism. 

Its  effects  are  visible  always  in  Mr.  Storey.  He  is  reticent;  he  com- 
munes with  himself;  he  reflects,  but  rarely  communicates.  The  tendencies 
of  his  thoughts  and  actions  are  inward,  and  not  outward.  He  is  not 
voluble  in  conversation;  he  has  a  species  of  timidity  which  affects  him 
somewhat  in  his  intercourse  with  others,  and  he  never  speaks  in  public. 
He  retires,  as  it  were,  from  the  world  within  himself  This  disposition 
to  centre  upon  himself,  so  to  speak,  is  shown  in  the  fiict  that,  although 
one  of  the  most  noted,  he  is  one  of  the  least  known  men  in  Chicago. 
Thousands  of  people  speak  of  him  every  day  in  this  city,  and  probably 
not  a  hundred  know  that  the  tall,  grey  man,  seen  every  day  upon  the 
streets,  is  Mr.  Storey. 

This  egoism  distinguishes  his  personal  appearance.  His  eyes  or  his 
face  rarely  look  outward.  His  grave  features  seem  a  mask  to  hide,  and 
not  a  medium  to  reveal  thought.  Moviug  along  the  street,  he  appears 
isolated,  impenetrable. 

Such  a  character  may  seem  to  have  no  social  qualities,  no  sentiment, 
no  elasticity.  And  yet  Mr.  Storey  has  all  these;  but  they  are  the 
exceptional  and  not  the  ruling  phases  of  his  life.  He  can  smile  as 
genially  as  other  men;  he  can  engage  as  enjoyingly  in  social  relaxation; 
he  can  be  munificent  in  his  charity — but  all  these  developments  must 
possess  the  quality  of  being  opportune.  The  occasion  for  each  or  all  of 
them  must  be  presented  at  the  proper  time.  At  the  right  moment  he  will 
be  lavishly  charitable;  at  the  wrong  moment,  not.  If  he  scowls  at  your 
approach,  it  is  not  because  he  dislikes  you,  but  because  the  exact  moment 
for  being  glad  to  see  you  has  not  come.  An  hour  or  a  week  later,  he 
will  smile  as  blandly  as  he  before  frowned  savagely  at  your  presence. 

In  personal  appearance,  Mr.  Storey  is  marked.  Tall,  erect,  he  moves 
and  acts  with  deliberation.     His  abundant  hair,  once  black  as  jet,  is  now 


140  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

grey,  not  Avith  age,  but  with  long  years  of  labor,  planning,  anxiety  and 
thought.  Seen  in  a  crowd  of  men,  he  invariably  attracts  attention.  He 
always  dresses  with  scrupulous  neatness,  and  usually  with  reference  more 
to  his  own  taste  than  the  prevailing  fashion.  His  forehead  is  high  rather 
than  broad,  and  his  eyes,  of  dark  hazel,  are  clear,  penetrating,  full,  and 
of  a  superb  brilliance.  His  hands  and  feet  are  small  and  shapely,  and 
his  carriage  erect,  deliberate  and  easy. 

As  a  journalist,  Mr.  Storey  is  a  paragraphist,  and  not  an  essayist. 
His  style,  while  finished,  is  distinguished  more  for  force  than  classical 
polish.  His  thoughts  arrange  themselves  slowly,  and  are  always  expressed 
in  the  fewest  possible  words.  He  never  wearies,  either  with  a  long  article 
or  a  long  sentence.  He  has  a  fashion  in  his  composition  like  the  fugue 
movement  in  music.  The  word  representing  the  prominent  idea  of  a 
sentence  Avill  be  repeated  again  and  again,  in  a  style  which,  in  other 
men,  would  be  tautology,  but  Avhich,  in  his  case,  has  the  effect  of  the 
repeated  blows  of  a  pile-driver  upon  the  same  stick  of  timber.  It  is  a 
sort  of  reiterative  process,  whereby  a  desired  effect  is  constantly  increased, 
intensified,  doubled  and  redoubled.  Men  upon  whom  these  iterative 
blows  have  fallen  can  best  bear  witness  to  their  terrible  effect. 

Mr.  Storey's  life  and  character  will  bear  a  much  more  detailed  history 
and  analysis  than  are  presented  in  this  paper.  The  limit  assigned  to 
these  sketches  prevents  the  elaboration  of  a  subject  than  which  few  more 
curious  or  interesting,  or  worthy  the  labor,  can  be  found  among  the  noted 
men  of  this  country  and  age.  There  are  many  lessons  that  might  be 
drawn  from  his  labors,  but  space  forbids,  likewise,  any  extended  indul- 
gence in  this  direction.  The  most  that  will  be  said,  in  this  place,  with 
reference  to  this  point,  is  to  repeat  the  trite  old  maxim — Labor  omnia  vincU. 


WILLIAM  W.  EYERTS. 


The  father  of  William  W.  Everts  was  Samuel  Everts,  who  was  a 
man  of  influence  in  his  community,  highly  esteemed  for  his  Christian 
manliness  of  character,  and  widely  known  for  his  zeal  in  the  service  of 
the  church. 

The  mother  "remains  unto  this  day,"  bowed  under  a  great  burthen 
of  years,  but  radiant  with  the  light  of  life,  and  crowned  with  the  bene- 
dictions of  the  many  she  has  turned  to  righteousness.  Left  by  a  sudden 
dispensation  of  Providence  with  a  large  family  of  children,  and  with 
nothing  but  a  resolute  will  and  a  devout  faith  to  rely  upon  for  their 
support  and  hers,  she  fought  out  the  battle  with  a  heroism  which,  under 
such  circumstances,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  was  transmitted  to,  and 
repeated  by,  the  subject  of  this  narrative. 

Of  such  parents  v/as  William  W.  Everts  born,  in  the  town  of 
Granville,  Washington  County,  New  York,  on  the  13th  of  March,  1814. 
He  was  twelve  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  sudden  death.  On 
account  of  that  event,  the  family  returned  to  their  old  place  of  residence, 
at  Clarkson,  Monroe  County,  New  York,  and  several  of  the  boys  Avent 
forth  to  their  labor  of  life.  William  was  one  of  them,  and  one  of  the 
youngest  of  them.  He  fed  his  brains  with  his  hands,  working  hard  all 
summer  on  the  farm,  and  studying  hard  all  winter  at  the  district  school, 
until  his  sixteenth  year.  By  that  time  he  had  made  a  public  profession 
of  religion,  become  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Cinu'ch  at  Sweden,  and  now 
ardently  "desired  the  office  of  a  Bishop."  But  his  ambition  wjis  under  the 
restraint  of  a  consecrated  conscience.  He  resolved  that  the  world  should 
know  that  he  had  been  in  it,  after  he  liad  k-ft  it,  but  he  would  be  in  it  for 
its  good  more  than  for  his  own.      His  voice  should  be  heard,  but  heard  in 


142  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  highest  interests  of  his  race;  he  would  make  himself  a  power,  but  a 
power  for  the  cause  of  Christ  and  His  church.  He  felt  a  "call  to  the 
ministry,"  but  it  was  a  call  founded  as  much  in  natural  reason  as  in 
supernatural  impulse.  The  love  of  man  impelled  him,  and  the  love  of 
God  enticed  him.  His  fitness  for  the  work  guaranteed  his  success  in  it; 
his  success  in  it  proved  his  fitness  for  it.  This  M'as  his  "  call,"  and  this 
his  claim  to  the  "succession." 

William  was  a  lithe,  tough,  wiry  and  high-nerved  boy,  of  decided 
promise,  when,  by  the  advice  of  his  pastor.  Dr.  Henry  Davis,  and  with 
the  approbation  of  his  church,  he  set  out  for  the  Hamilton  (New  York) 
Literary  and  Theological  Institution,  with  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket-book, 
but  with  much  more  than  the  ordinary  amount  of  sense  in  his  head. 
Arriving  at  his  place  of  destination,  he  had  three  dollars  left  with 
which  to  meet  the  expenses  of  a  "liberal  education."  A  forbidding 
future  was  before  him,  but  the  boy  was  endowed  for  it,  and  ready  for  it. 
He  was  too  young,  perhaps,  to  fully  realize  the  future,  or  to  completely 
comprehend  the  present.  But  he  plainly  foresaw  that  he  was  not  to  be 
carried  to  his  goal  on  "flowery  beds  of  ease,"  and  that  his  reaching  it 
would  depend  upon  his  own  "pluck"  and  endurance.  And  both  of  these 
he  had.  No  boy  in  school  had  them  in  greater  measure,  or  used  them  to 
better  purpose.  He  could  have  been  seen  gathering  ashes  from  the 
students'  stoves  during  the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  and  selling  them 
during  the  day.  On  Saturdays  he  felled  trees,  carted  them  to  the  college 
and  cut  them  into  firewood,  which  he  sold  to  the  students.  By  such 
means  he  obtained  money  with  which  to  meet  his  tuition  bills.  The 
brave  behavior  of  the  boy  attracted  the  attention  of  a  gentleman  in  the 
neighborhood,  Avho  gave  him  a  home  during  his  vacations,  and  in  other 
ways  manifested  his  friendship).  Years  rolled  on,  and  "William  began  to 
preach.  He  lived  off  the  Gospel  by  preaching  it,  while  others  lived  off  it 
by  hearing  it  from  his  lips.  He  learned  to  preach  by  preaching.  Before 
graduation  he  was  ordained,  and  became  pastor  of  the  Earlville  Baptist 
Church,  in  the  Chenango  Valley,  New  York,  six  miles  from  the  college. 

He  was  graduated  at  the  Hamilton  Institution,  now  known  as 
Madison  University,  in  August,  1839,  and  on  the  10th  of  October,  of  the 
same  year,  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  C.  P.  Wycoff. 
Two  daughters  of  this  excellent  and  efficient  lady  are  now  married  and 
living  in  Chicago.  One  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  G.  L.  Wrenn,  and  the  other 
is  the  wife  of  F.  P.  Hawkins,  Esq.     Immediately  after  the  marriage,  he 


WIIJ.IAM    AV.    KVEKTS.  143 

removed  to  New  York  city,  where  he  liad  been  called  to  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church,  at  that  linic  a  new  enterprise, 
of  which  he  was  the  first  pastor,  and  which  was  officered  liy  some  of  the 
oldest  and  foremost  Baptist  laymen  of  the  metropolis,  amono-  M-honi  Mas 
the  late  William  Colgate,  Esq.,  a  man  who  died  at  a  good  old  ago,  as  rich 
in  faith  and  the  works  of  faith  as  in  i-eal  estate  and  bank  deposits. 

But  this  early  forward  and  upward  step  was  not  taken  by  the  young 
clergyman  without  hesitation  and  trepidation.  He  had  been  but  a  few 
months  a  pastor;  he  was  just  from  college;  he  had  no  "old  material;"  he 
was  without  resources,  save  those  he  acquired  from  his  text-books;  but  he 
was  the  same  mettlesome  and  resolute  spirit  that  worked  his  passage 
through  college  by  chopping  wood  and  trading  in  ashes;  and  Avhen  the 
faculty,  the  church,  and  the  leaders  in  Israel  met  his  misgivings  with 
persistent  entreaties,  he  yielded,  and  went  to  the  metrojiolis,  where  his 
public  service  may  be  said  to  have  begun.  And  here  that  enthusiastic 
devotion  to  his  Master's  work  which  has  ever  since  distinguished  him  soon 
made  itself  widely  known  and  deeply  felt.  His  jJi'eaching  drew  congre- 
gations respectable  both  in  numbers  and  intelligence,  while  his  zeal  was 
of  that  alert  and  ardent  sort  that  invariably  wins  its  way  among  the 
workers  in  a  common  cause,  and  fascinates  those  whom  it  wins. 

During  this  pastorate,  five  hundred  persons  were  added  to  the  churcli. 
The  young  pastor  was  highly  favored  of  Providence,  and  much 
esteemed,  for  his  works'  sake,  as  well  as  for  his  -own  sake,  by  his  fellow 
helpers  in  the  Gospel.  At  the  end  of  three  years,  the  church  extension 
spirit,  of  which  he  is  a  remarkable  example,  began  to  bear  fruit  in  the 
planting  of  a  new  Baptist  vine  in  the  metropolitan  vineyard.  By  his 
advice,  a  church  edifice  at  St.  John's  Park  was  purchased  of  another 
denomination,  and  through  his  exertions  the  money  was  raised  to  pay  for 
it.  Thither  he  led  a  little  band  at  their  own  solicitation,  in  1842,  and 
there  he  "set  up  a  standard  for  the  people"  again,  working  with  unremit- 
ting industry,  unflagging  zeal  and  undaunted  bravery,  for  eight  years,  in 
the  ministry  of  the  Laight  Street  Baptist  Church.  The  colony  of 
seventy  became  a  church  of  four  hundred,  and  as  to  congregation,  the 
little  one  became  a  thousand. 

But  the  spirit  was  too  willing  for  the  flesh.  The  latter  gave  way 
under  the  exactions  of  the  former.  In  addition  to  the  onerous  duties  and 
prodigious  responsibilities  inseparable  from  the  pastoral  office,  Mr.  Everts 
was,  hand,  and  heart,  and  head,  in  various  enterprises  of  a  denominational 


144  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

character,  as  well  as  in  those  where  Christians  of  different  denominations 
unite  in  the  service  of  the  one  Holy  Catholic  Church  to  which  they  all 
belong.  It  was  during  this  pastorate  that  he  prepared  and  printed  "  The 
Pastor's  Hand-Book,"  "The  Scripture  School  Eeader,"  and  "The  Life 
and  Thoughts  of  Foster/'  with  whose  writings  he  early  became  enamored. 
In  conjunction,  also,  with  the  Rev.  Professor  G.  W.  Anderson,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Hague,  now  of  Boston,  and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  he 
published  "Tracts  for  Cities,"  three  of  which  were  written  by  himself, 
to  wit:  "The  Social  Position  and  Influence  of  Cities,"  "The  Temptatious 
of  City  Life,"  and  "The  Theatre."  These  tracts,  together  with  those 
written  by  the  other  eminent  divines  above  named,  have  had  a  large 
circidatiou,  and  have  been  the  means  of  awakening  the  attention  of  many 
young  men  to  the  important  matters  of  Avhich  they  treat  Avitli  so  much 
admonitory  pungency  and  wise  counsel.  They  were  afterwards  published 
in  a  book,  with  the  title  of  "  Words  in  Earnest." 

Under  this  burthen  of  mental  toil,  even  his  remarkably  vigorous 
physical  constitution  came  down,  and  in  the  anxious  estimation  of  devoted 
friends  had  tumbled  into  ruins.  While  all  would  applaud  the  zeal  of  the 
young  pastor,  some  would  reproach  his  deficiency  in  discretion.  If,  as  a 
wise  master-builder,  he  had  laid  the  foundation  for  another  to  build  upon, 
it  was  feared  that  he  had  broken  up  the  foundation  upon  which  he  should 
have  built  a  life  of  physical  vigor  and  intellectual  usefulness. 

Shattered  and  dispirited  in  the  midst  of  his  youth,  he  accepted  the 
leave  of  absence  tendoi'ed  by  his  church,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  a 
year  in  Europe,  in  pursuit  of  the  health  he  had  thus  early  lost.  The 
pursuit  was  tolerably  successful.  He  returned  in  June,  1849,  and,  wisely 
declining  to  take  up  where  he  had  left  oif  in  the  great  city,  he  began 
anew,  in  the  quiet  country  town  of  Wheatland,  Western  New  York.  But 
you  cannot  bind  the  unicorn  in  the  furrow,  nor  restrain  such  a  man  as 
this  with  the  impression  that  there  is  "nothing  to  do."  The  work  is  in 
the  man,  whether  in  his  field  or  not. 

No  sooner  was  he  made  overseei'  of  the  village  church  than  his  heart 
expanded  and  took  in  all  the  villages  and  their  churches,  or,  rather,  their 
want  of  churches,  for  miles  around.  He  saw  their  destitution,  and 
mourned  over  it.  He  went  among  them,  preaching  and  raising  up  Sunday 
schools  to  carry  forward  the  good  cause.  His  church -extension  spirit  was 
contagious.  Good  men  caught  it  and  rich  men  acted  on  it.  By  dint  of 
much  pertinacious  battling  with  ignorance  and  apathy,  he  succeeded  in 


AVILLIAM    W.    EVERTS.  145 

the  course  of  about  two  years,  in  erecting  three  beautiful  village  chapels, 
and  dismissing  a  colony  to  each  of  them. 

Early  in  1853,  believing  that  his  health  would  now  warrant  his  return 
to  a  city  parish  and  a  larger  sphere  of  service,  he  accepted  the  unanimous 
call  of  the  Walnut  Street  Baptist  Church,  of  Louisville,  Kentuckv. 
Wheatland  mourned.  The  whole  comnuinity,  containing  persons  of  all 
denominations,  among  Avhom  were  several  Episcopalians  of  influence  and 
Mcalth,  joined  in  expressions  of  condolence  for  themselves  and  confidence 
in  the  departing  pastor.  He  had  wrought  a  good  work  among  them  and 
upon  them.     They  sorrowed  that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more. 

His  year  of  travel,  and  two  years  in  the  country  parish,  had,  to  a 
great  degree,  repaired  his  disordered  nerves,  and  gave  him  hopeful  antici- 
pations for  the  future. 

His  seven  years  in  Louisville,  as  the  reader  will  not  now  be  surprised 
to  learn,  were  years  of  toil  the  most  fruitful,  and  of  success  the  most 
satisfactory  in  the  way  of  church  extension,  and  of  adding  to  the  church 
such  as  should  be  saved.  The  imposing  brick  edifice  which  now  stands 
on  the  corner  of  Walnut  and  Fourth  streets  was,  at  Dr.  Everts'  coming, 
in  the  process  of  erection,  the  congregation  meeting  in  the  lecture-room. 
Under  his  leadership,  the  enterprise  Ava.s  rapidly  pushed  forward  to  com- 
pletion; but  when  completed  there  was  a  debt  upon  it  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  A  few  months  of  public  appeal  and  private  persuasion  from  this 
man,  who  has  been  called,  in  jocose  parlance,  "the  Prince  of  Beggars," 
and  the  sum  was  raised,  as  much  to  the  amazement  as  the  admiration  of 
the  church.  Several  church  enterprises  of  Louisville  and  other  towns  in 
Kentucky,  now  in  prosperous  circumstances,  were  commenced  at  the 
suggestion  and  under  the  generalship  of  Dr.  Everts;  and  during  his 
pastorate  in  that  State,  he  published  four  works — "The  Bible  Prayer 
Book,"  "Childhood:  its  Promise  and  Training,"  "Voyage  of  Life,"  and 
"  The  Sanctuary  " — all  works  of  conceded  value  and  recognized  ability. 

Li  August,  1859,  he  accepted  the  call  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Chicago,  the  pastoral  charge  of  which  he  still  holds. 

His  coming  to  Chicago  began  another  epoch  in  his  history,  and  in 
the  history  of  the  denomination  in  whose  service  he  is  so  distinguished  for 
efficiency  in  leadership.  A  relation  in  detail  of  his  labors  here  would 
be  highly  gratifying  to  all  who  have  an  interest  in  the  capacity  of  man 
for  great  achievements.  We  have  space  only  for  the  merest  outline  of 
such  a  narrative. 


146  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Dr.  Everts  was  not  on  the  ground  long  before  comprehending  the 
necessities  and  opportunities  of  the  situation,  and  with  all  his  enthusiasm 
he  threw  himself  into  the  work  before  him.  The  First  Baptist  Church 
soon  felt  in  all  her  departments  of  labor  a  new  and  unprecedented  impulse. 
The  Baptist  denomination  throughout  the  city  and  the  Northwest 
gradually  shared  in  this  impulse.  The  forward  march  of  the  First 
Church  was  rapidly  imitated  in  every  direction.  Baptist  churches,  far 
and  near,  caught  the  spirit  of  progress  that  animated  those  of  Chicago. 
Under  the  generalship  of  Dr.  Everts,  the  First  Baptist  Church  removed 
to  the  more  eligible  location  they  now  occupy  on  Wabash  avenue,  and 
erected  a  church  entirely  of  Illinois  marble,  at  a  cost  of  about  $200^000, 
capable  of  seating  fifteen  hundred  persons — an  edifice  which,  in  imposing 
exterior  and  beauty  of  interior,  is  probably  not  surpassed  in  any  Protestant 
denomination  of  this  country.  Nor  should  we  neglect  to  mention  that  out 
of  this  movement  grew  the  Second  Baptist  Church,  which  received  the 
valuable  and  substantial  materials  of  the  old  edifice  gratis.  These  were 
removed  to  the  West  Side,  and  that  chur(;h  organization  is  now  one  of  the 
most  flourishing  and  efficient  in  the  Northwesi. 

In  the  midst  of  his  numerous  church.  Sabbath  school  and  missionary 
enterprises,  Dr.  Everts  found  time,  and  solicited  money,  to  spend  in  the 
interest  of  the  University  of  Chicago.  He  used  his  marvelous  faculty 
for  "raising  money"  with  great  effijct,  being  foremost  in  a  movement 
which  added  to  the  property  of  the  University  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  has  also  taken  a  zealous  interest  and  an 
efficient  part  in  the  founding  of  a  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  in  this 
city,  the  first  subscription  to  its  endowment  being  obtained  by  him. 
Many  striking  anecdotes  might  be  related,  illustrative  of  his  success  in 
starting  new  churches  and  lifting  old  ones  out  of  the  slough  of  despond 
into  which  their  debts  have  plunged  them.  A  Baptist  church  would 
hardly  be  content,  now,  without  sending  for  Dr.  Everts  to  "  get  us  out  of 
debt."  But  Dr.  Everts  does  not  ask  others  to  do  what  he  is  not  willing 
to  do  himself.  He  puts  his  name  upon  the  subscription  paper  before 
handing  it  to  others.  He  practices  the  liberality  which  he  enjoins  ujx)n 
his  church. 

During  the  late  war,  he  was  vigilant  and  valiant  on  the  side  of  the 
National  Government  in  its  struggle  with  the  rebellious  slaveholders ;  and, 
before  the  people  seemed  fully  ripe  for  it,  he  was  author  of  an  argument 
for  universal  emancipation,  in  a  petition  which  was  sent  to  the  President, 


WILLIAM    Vr.    EVERTS.  147 

signed  by  a  large  number  of  Christians,  and  soon  followed  by  the  first 
proclamation.  He  believed  in  the  policy  of  liberty,  and  offered  no 
apology  when  he  stood  up  in  its  defense. 

The  wife  of  Dr.  Everts  died,  after  a  brief  illness,  on  the  11th  of 
October,  1866,  after  having,  by  her  labors  in  philanthropy  and  religion, 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  community — drawn  the  admiration  of  the 
humane,  and  won  the  affection  of  the  city's  multitude  that  are  ready  to 
perish.  AVords  of  tender  sorrow  were  spoken  over  her  coffin  by  clergy- 
men of  several  denominations,  and  the  record  of  her  sacrificial  life  has 
been  given  to  the  world. 

Chastened,  and  yet  not  crushed,  cast  down,  and  yet  not  destroyed  by 
this  great  bereavement,  Dr.  Everts  still  holds  on  his  course  of  unremitting 
fidelity  to  his  church  and  race.  His  rare  powers  of  persuasion,  and  his 
fertile  imagination,  render  him  an  effective  preacher;  his  large  adminis- 
trative faculty  gives  him  his  success  as  a  leader,  while  his  pertinacious 
tenacity  makes  him  irresistible  in  any  sphere  of  enterprise  or  endeavor  to 
which  he  may  set  his  hand,  and  upon  which  he  may  set  his  heart. 


JAMES  H.  WOODWORTH. 


Somewhat  over  six  feet  in  actual  height,  and  yet  so  bowed  as  to 
partly  lose  the  effect  of  his  extra  inches,  with  a  well-built  frame,  a  face 
strongly  individualized  and  large-featured,  square  brow,  eyes  deeply  set, 
straight  but  prominent  nose,  a  sagacious,  kindly  mouth — so  stands  before 
us  our  ex-Mayor  and  Congressman,  James  H.  Woodworth.  He  is  a 
person  you  would  turn  to  look  at  with  interest,  and  towards  whom  you 
would  warm  with  instinctive  confidence.  He  has  a  quiet  air  of  gentle 
breeding  that  irresistibly  reminds  one  of  the  class  now  almost  extinct — 
"gentlemen  of  the  old  school,"  whose  education  was  so  nicely  compounded 
of  matter  and  manner  as  to  equally  remove  them  from  careless 
"brusquerie"  or  silly  elegance. 

Eleazer  "Woodworth  and  Catherine  Rock  were  of  English  descent, 
and  natives  of  Connecticut.  Soon  after  marriage,  they  emigrated  to 
Washington  County,  New  York,  where  they  resided  for  many  years. 
Among  the  ten  children  born  there  to  them,  was  the  subject  of  our 
present  sketch,  on  the  4th  of  December,  1804,  in  the  town  of  Greenwich. 

His  early  memories  are  those  of  simple  rural  life.  The  first 
recollection  is  of  the  child  of  four,  knee-deep  in  the  meadow  grass, 
watching  the  mowers,  when  suddenly  the  old  dog,  who  always  followed 
him,  seized  a  large  snake  in  dangerous  proximity,  and  shook  it  with  such 
force  that  the  flying  ends  of  the  reptile  repeatedly  struck  the  face  of  the 
terrified  child,  and  impressed  the  moment  as  the  first  in  memory. 

He  remembers  well  the  time,  though  but  six  years  of  age,  when,  on 
returning  home  from  pasture,  he  missed  his  little  brother  from  the  bridge, 
and  barely  succeeded  in  drawing  him  out  of  the  water.  Afterwards, 
recollections   come   thicker — of  meeting'-house   and  school-house;    going 


150  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

over  to  the  mill;  working  in  the  field;  the  country  frolics,  and  the 
wholesome  toil  that  nourished  natural  vigor  to  hardness,  and  stored  his 
mind  with  many  sweet  and  simple  memories. 

His  father  dying  Avhile  James  was  but  a  very  young  child,  the  care 
of  farm  and  family  devolved  upon  the  mother  and  an  older  brother.  He 
served  this  brother  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  acquiring,  meanwhile, 
the  limited  education  of  the  district  school,  which,  however,  ceased  at 
the  age  of  fourteen,  which  was  all  the  schooling  obtained,  except  some  ten 
weeks  spent  at  an  academy  in  later  years.  During  this  time,  the  boy  was 
busily  shaping  his  character  for  life-work.  The  aged  mother  often  spoke 
of  James  as  a  dutiful  boy.  Among  the  family  his  honesty  was  a  proverb, 
and  he  was  never  known  to  tell  a  lie.  Strictly  conscientious  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties,  he  rendered  his  brother  faithful  and  unquestionable 
service,  AMiilc  quite  young,  he  gained  a  reputation  for  sagacity  and  sound 
judgment,  and  was  often  consulted  by  liis  mother  and  the  elder  members 
of  the  family.  But  while  he  gained  their  admiration  by  these  sterling 
qualities,  his  unselfishness  won  their  love.  Always  careful  not  to  infringe 
upon  the-  rights  of  others,  and  without  ostentation,  he  seemed  to  live  by 
the  higher  law  of  justice. 

James  left  Washington  County  when  nineteen  years  of  age,  as  his 
brother  at  tiiat  time  exchanged  the  homestead  farm  for  cue  in  Onondaga 
County,  in  what  was  called  the  "Indian  Reservation,"  and  there  the 
young  man  spent  the  last  two  years  of  his  minority  in  clearing  a  heavily 
timbered  tract,  and  erecting  the  necessary  buildings  for  family  and  farm 
use.  But  having  reached  his  twenty-first  year,  he  gave  up  farming  as  an 
occupation,  and  engaged  as  teacher  in  the  district  school  for  the  winter 
term.  At  the  close  of  this  engagement  he  entered  the  office  of  his  brother 
Robert,  then  a  practicing  jihysician  in  Fabius,  with  the  intention 
of  fitting  himself  for  the  practice  of  medicine.  One  year  passed  in  study, 
during  one-half  of  which  he  again  had  charge  of  the  village  school.  At 
the  expiration  of  this  time  he  gave  up  both  professions,  and  with  a 
brother  commenced  mercantile  life  on  a  small  scale.  At  this  time  he  was 
first  sought  for  public  service,  and  made  Inspector  of  Common  Schools, 
to  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  community.  In  the  spring  of  1827,  the 
brothers  shipped  their  goods  to  Erie  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  for  six 
years  carried  on  business  in  the  little  town  of  Springfield.  During  four 
years  of  this  time  James  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  in 
his  hands  became  a  pacific  business,  as  he  used  his  official  as  well  as  social 


JAMES    IT.    WODDM'OnTII.  151 

influence  in  advising  and  promoting  the  private  settlement  of  difficulties, 
jind  warning  from  recourse  to  law. 

Meanwhile,  the  Western  fever  raged  high,  and  infected  the  young 
blood  of  the  populous  States.  The  stories  told  around  the  winter  hearth, 
and  to  the  gaping  circle  at  their  summer  nooning,  opened  up  to  them 
visions  of  future  possibilities  as  glittering  as  did  ever  genii's  lamp  in  the 
diamond  cave,  and  thrilled  these  stalwart  fellows  with  a  sense  of  their 
power. 

In  the  summer  of  1833,  Mr.  Woodworth  came  to  Illinois  and  selected 
Chicago  as  his  home,  then  containing  but  five  hundred  inhabitants,  includ- 
ing whites,  Indians  and  half-breeds.  In  connection  with  one  Hugh  Gibson, 
and  afterwards  with  a  brother,  he  carried  on  the  dry  goods  business  until 
1840.  In  the  autumn  of  1839,  he  was  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the 
State  Senate,  from  the  Chicago  district,  then  comprising  some  five  or  six 
counties.  During  this  session  Mr.  Woodworth  drew  up  and  offered  the 
extended  provision  of  the  canal  bill,  which  authorized  the  issue  of  ''  canal 
scrip."  In  the  latter  part  of  1840,  Mr.  Wood  worth  left  Chicago  for  a 
while,  to  superintend  his  interest  in  flouring  and  saw-mills  in  La  Salle 
County.  After  some  six  months  of  successful  operation,  however,  they 
were  destroyed  by  fire,  involving  Mr.  Woodworth  in  a  loss  of  $25,000, 
the  payment  of  a  partial  insurance  being  evaded  by  the  insurance 
company,  on  account  of  a  technical  flaw  in  the  policy. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Woodworth  was  again  called  into  public  service,  to 
represent  La  Salle,  Grundy  and  Kendall  Counties  in  the  State  Legislature. 
During  the  session  succeeding  this  election  the  bill  was  passed  which  pro- 
vided for  the  completion  of  the  canal.  Mr.  Woodworth  shared  the  deep 
interest  which  all  the  ])eople  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  felt  in  the 
passage  of  this  bill,  and  spared  no  personal  effort  or  sacrifice  to  make  it  a 
success.  He  measured  liis  duty  by  the  strictest  fidelity  to  the  interests  of 
his  constituents,  compatible  Avith  honor  and  right.  Therefore,  when  a 
petition  was  presented  in  the  House,  signed  by  twenty-seven  women  of 
Bureau  County,  praying  for  a  modification  or  repeal  of  the  Black  Laws, 
Mr.  Woodworth,  knowing  the  hostility  of  by  fir  the  greater  part  of  the 
House  against  anything  of  an  abolition  character,  and  rightly  judging  that 
tlie  mere  expression  of  personal  feeling  without  any  practical  result  was, 
in  his  position,  to  be  subordinated  to  the  conciliation  of  those  whose  votes 
were  necessary  to  carry  through  the  canal  bill  then  pending,  cast  his  vote 
with  the  large  majority  who  favored  an  indefinite  postponement  of  the 


152  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

consideration  of  this  petition.  Some  twelve  years  later,  the  fact  of  this  vote 
was  urged  by  opponents  to  stir  up  doubts  as  to  his  political  integrity,  but 
such  insinuations  and  assertions  were  proven  to  be  both  Imseless  and  flimsy. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Wood  worth  married  Miss  Boothe,  of  Onondaga  County, 
New  York,  Avhose  graceful  courtesies  and  tender  charities  made  her  at  once 
conspicuous  in  the  new  community  to  which  her  husband  brought  her, 
and  whose  name  is  now  associated  with  all  that  is  noble  in  philanthropy 
and  Christian  enterprise. 

Having  purchased  the  hydraulic  flouring  mill,  to  which  were  attached 
the  pumps  and  reservoirs  of  the  Chicago  Hydraulic  Company,  Mr. 
Woodworth  was  engaged  for  ten  years  in  supplying  Chicago  with  bread 
and  water,  in  a  literal  sense,  proving  himself  a  main  support  of  the  com- 
munity. But  his  ability  in  public  affairs  was  too  well  known  to  suffer 
him  to  remain  unemployed  for  the  public  good,  and  he  was  elected 
member  of  the  Common  Council,  in  which  he  served  the  city  for  three 
years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  in  response  to  a  call  from  the  most  influ- 
ential citizens,  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  Mayoralty,  and,  after  a  spirited 
contest,  was  elected  by  a  large  majority.  At  the  expiration  of  his  first 
term  of  office,  he  was  re-elected  without  any  organized  opposition.  In 
his  letter  accepting  his  second  nomination,  he  stipulated  for  a  salary  of 
$1,000,  as  some  compensation  for  services  now  becoming  onerous  in  the 
rapidly  growing  city,  although,  until  that  time,  the  honorable  office  had 
been  considered  its  own  exceeding  great  reward,  there  being  no  provision 
in  the  City  Charter  for  such  salary. 

In  the  five  years  of  his  connection  with  the  city  government,  very 
important  measures  were  adopted,  bearing  upon  the  future  growth  and 
])rosperity  of  the  city,  and,  to  secure  such  enactments,  Mr.  Woodworth 
gave  time  and  influence  without  stint.  Prominent  among  the  causes  he 
advocated  and  Avorked  for,  was  the  vacation  of  certain  parts  of  ^^'^ater 
street  and  the  establishment  of  wharfina;  lots  for  the  transfer  and  storage 
of  the  large  amounts  of  grain  seeking  the  Chicago  market.  Although 
now  the  advantage  is  obvious  at  a  glance,  yet  the  consideration  of  this 
question  occupied  over  a  hundred  sessions  of  the  Common  Council,  and 
necessitated  numberless  interviews  with  individual  property  owners,  and 
much  eloquent  persuasion,  to  win  their  consent.  In  1853,  Mr.  Woodworth 
was  appointed  member  of  the  Board  of  Water  Commissioners,  and  for 
two  years  gave  much  time,  in  connection  with  his  colleagues,  toward  the 
perfection  of  the  system  of  water  supply. 


JA:\rES   II.   AVOODWORTII.  i:)'.] 

In  the  autumn  of  1854,  a  People's  Convention  of  delegates  iVoiti  all 
the  counties  in  tlie  Chicago  Congressional  District  mot  at  Aurora,  and 
placed  James  H.  "Woodwortli  in  nomination  as  a  Republican  candidate  for 
Congress.  The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  the  repeal  of 
the  Compromise  act  had  disturbed  old  party  lines,  and  wrought  up  to 
intense  excitement  the  people  of  the  United  States.  As  a  consequence  of 
these  party  sub-divisions,  Mr.  Woodworth's  nomination  was  simultaneous 
with  that  of  three  other ,  candidates  for  this  district — competitors  for  the 
same  votes.  There  was  an  attempt  to  unite  upon  one  man,  but  it  was 
found  to  be  impracticable,  and  the  campaign  commenced  in  good  earnest. 
The  necessary  canvassing  of  the  district  Mr.  Woodwortli  took  up  with 
extreme  reluctance.  Bred  a  farmer,  and  all  of  his  life  immersed  in  active 
business,  without  literary  acquirements,  and  unaccustomed  to  public 
speaking,  it  was  Avith  many  doubts  of  success  that  he  took  the  stump. 
But  the  maiden  eifort  at  Aurora  was  received  with  such  approbation  that 
he  continued  the  canvass  with  more  ease,  and  within  the  month  spoke 
some  twenty-five  times,  in  as  many  different  localities.  Everywhere  the 
friends  of  "free  speech,  free  soil  and  free  men/'  met  him  with  enthusiasm, 
and  he  was  triumphantly  elected  by  a  large  majority  of  votes  over  all  the 
oj)posing  candidates. 

In  December,  1855,  he  took  his  seat  in  Congress,  and  bore  a  part  in 
the  contest  for  Speaker  of  the  House,  which  lasted  nine  weeks,  resulting 
in  the  election  of  JST.  P.  Banks.  It  was  a  long  session,  during  a  great  part 
of  which  much  excitement  and  bitter  feeling  prevailed,  growing  out  of 
the  question  of  slavery,  which  culminated  in  the  barbarous  attack  of 
Brooks  upon  Sumner,  and  the  consequent  agitation.  At  this  time 
Mr.  Woodwortli  procured  an  additional  appropriation  of  $65,000  towards 
the  fund  for  the  erection  of  the  Custom  House  and  Post  Office  building, 
making,  with  a  previous  appropriation,  $155,000.  This  he  knew  to  be 
inadequate  to  the  Avants  of  such  a  city  as  Chicago,  but  accepted  it  as  the 
greatest  sum  he  could  gain  at  that  time.  After  consultation  with  Senator 
Douglas,  they  concluded  to  use  their  influence  in  delaying  the  work  until 
another  session  of  Congress  would  enable  them  to  bring  up  the  matter 
again.  After  Congress  had  assembled,  the  next  winter,  a  movement  was 
made  to  obtain  the  desired  appropriation.  jNIossrs.  Woodw<n-th  and 
Douglas  went  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  a  recoinuiciidation,  but 
fiiiled,  and  then  sought  the  Postmaster-General,  who,  impressed  by  their 
statements,  recomttiended  the  appropriation  to  the  Senate  committee,  who, 


154  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

in  turn,  added  an  appropriation  of  $220,000,  among  other  amendments, 
to  a  bill  passed  by  the  House.  But  the  House  refused  to  concur,  and  the 
Senate  refusing  to  recede,  a  Committee  of  Conference  was  appointed. 
Mr.  Woodworth  visited  each  member  of  the  committee  in  turn,  and  by  his 
representations  won  their  approval  to  the  scheme.  The  result  was,  that 
while  every  other  appropriation  for  similar  purposes,  at  other  locations, 
was  rejected,  the  Chicago  appropriation  was  retained,  reported  to  both 
houses,  and  passed. 

Since  the  close  of  his  Congressional  career,  Mr.  Woodworth  has  sought 
release  from  public  cares,  but  while  mainly  devoted  to  his  private  business 
as  President  of  the  Treasury  Bank,  he  has  found  the  quiet  of  private  life 
often  invaded  by  calls  to  public  duty.  At  the  commencement  of  the  late 
war  he  was  summoned  to  Springfield  by  Governor  Yates,  as  one  of  his 
counselors  in  the  exigencies  of  that  memorable  period,  and,  under  the 
Governor's  appointment,  served  on  the  Board  of  Auditors  of  War  Claims. 
His  services  to  the  cause  of  patriotism,  as  well  as  those  of  his  lady, 
throughout  the  war,  in  the  various  measures  for  raising  troops  and  caring 
for  their  sanitary  condition,  were  such  as  are  not  to  be  forgotten.  As  one 
of  the  first  to  lend  his  support  to  the  measures  which  have  given  to 
Chicago  its  University,  Mr.  Woodworth  has  earned  an  honorable  place 
among  its  founders  and  the  patrons  of  learning.  To  his  wise  counsels  as 
a  Trustee,  and  his  financial  skill  as  its  Treasurer,  during  most  of  its 
history,  that  institution  owes,  in  no  small  degree,  its  success. 

We  may  regard  ]Mr.  Woodworth  as  the  embodiment  of  society's  staple 
and  essential  virtues.  Moderate  to  conservatism,  faithful  in  promised 
service,  honorable,  charitable  and  of  tender  heart;  although  a  politician, 
above  partisan  bitterness;  a  business  man  who  has  passed  through  trial 
without  the  smell  of  fire  upon  his  garments;  a  public  man  whose  purity 
is  untainted.  His  sympathies  and  influence  are  on  the  side  of  religion, 
although  his  early  manhood  was  skeptical.  A  friend  to  social  reforms,  he 
maintains  his  exalted  moral  standard  in  the  community.  Somewhat 
reserved  in  society,  in  private  life  he  shows  his  really  genial  nature.  The 
head  of  a  household  whose  hospitable  doors  are  always  open,  he  shares 
and  enjoys  the  mirth  that  warms  the  heart  and  cheers  the  hearth.  Such 
characters  mould  communities,  influence  society,  and  benefit  the  race  more 
than  solitary  genius  or  eccentric  talent.  The  pyrotechnic  glare  dazzles, 
bewilders,  charms,  but  the  softer  light  of  the  moon  silvers  the  atmos- 
phere, beautifies  every  common  object,  and  makes  plain  the  dark  paths. 


JAMES   H.   WOODWORTH.  155 

A  distinguished  Senator  and  cx-Governor  of  the  State,  one  who  has 
long  known  him  intimately,  both  in  public  and  private  life,  speaks  as 
follows : 

"I  met  the  Hon.  James  II.  Woodwortb,  for  the  first  time,  on  the  5th  day  of  December, 
1842,  as  a  Representative  from  the  County  of  LaSalle,  then,  and  still,  one  of  the  most 
populous  and  flourishing  counties  of  the  State.  I  entered  upon  my  first  terra  in  the 
Legislature  on  that  date,  and  I  had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  Mr.  Woodworth  well, 
and  of  forming  a  just  estimate  of  his  character,  because  I  not  only  served  with  him  in 
the  same  Legislative  body,  but  we  occupied  adjoining  apartments  in  the  same  house,  and 
we  and  our  families  were  on  terms  of  intimate  friendship,  which  have  continued  without 
interruption  until  the  present  day.  At  that  time  he  appeared  to  me  to  be  about  forty 
years  of  age.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  striking  deportment,  in  person  tall  and  slender, 
with  a  full,  manly  face,  dignified  in  bearing,  and  altogether  commanding  in  appearance. 
In  the  expression  of  his  opinions  he  was,  while  modest,  yet  frank,  fearless,  clear  and 
forcible.  I  very  soon  perceived  that  he  was  gifted  with  strong  common  sense,  with  a 
discriminating  judgment  and  a  conscientious  sense  of  right,  and  that  to  these  were  added 
firmness  of  purpose,  which  qualities  combined  gave  him  true  force  of  character,  inspired 
confidence,  and  made  him  a  safe  and  valuable  counselor,  to  be  relied  upon  in  the 
questions  and  policies  affecting  the  interests  of  the  Siate.  Though,  from  diffidence  (as  I 
believe  it  to  have  been),  he  spoke  but  seldom  in  the  House,  yet  there  were  few,  if  any, 
whose  opinions  were  more  regarded,  or  who  was  oftener  consulted  upon  public  measures. 
His  integrity  was  never  impeached.  Indeed,  his  face  was  the  index  of  honesty  itself. 
He  occupied  a  high  position  in  the  House,  having  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  its 
members,  without  distinction  of  party. 

"After  serving  as  Mayor  of  Chicago  two  terms,  he  received  the  hearty  indorsement 
of  his  fellow  citizens  by  a  triumphant  election  to  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
Congress.  Here  again  he  was  a  business  rather  than  a  speaking  member,  but  gave 
his  votes  and  his  voice  in  favor  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  in  the  early  agitations  of  that 
question,  for  improving  the  harbor  of  Chicago,  and  for  appropriations  for  the  Govern- 
ment public  buildings  in  that  city.  In  that  same  Congress,  the  journals  show  that  on 
all  the  questions  regarding  slavery  he  took  early  and  fearless  ground.  Every  vote  he 
cast  was  in  favor  of  liberty.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  believing,  with  the  wise 
and  good,  that  slavery  was  a  curse  to  both  master  and  slave,  and  a  blot  upon  our  national 
escutcheon,  and  he  steadily  supported  all  measures  favorable  to  emancipation.  At  the 
end  of  his  congressional  term  he  retired  to  his  home  in  Chicago,  with  the  unabated 
confidence  and  high  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

"Since  then,  Mr.  Woodworth  has  declined  all  public  stations,  further  than  was 
necessary  in  carrying  forward  great  business  and  benevolent  enterprises  of  utility  to  the 
community  in  which  he  lives.  He  is  a  public-spirited  man,  and  his  name  is  identified 
intimately  with  those  important  commercial  and  business  enterprises  which  reflect  so 
much  credit  upon  Chicago,  and  have  placed  her  in  her  present  commanding  position. 
He  has  been  the  warm  and  efiicient  friend  of  religion  and  education,  and  has  contributed 
largely  of  his  time  and  means  in  the  building  of  churches  and  the  advancement  of 
schools  and  literary  institutions. 

"During   the  war,  he  acted  with   the   Union  party,  and   gave  his  warm   and  hearty 


156  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

encouragement  and  assistance  to  the  State  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  its  military 
plans  and  measures.  It  may,  perhaps,  not  be  a  digression  to  say  that  he  was  greatly 
aided  by  the  efforts  of  his  excellent  wife,  who,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  war, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  by  constant,  wearisome  and  exhaustive  labors  in  sanitary 
movements  for  the  comfort  and  encouragement  of  our  soldiers,  richly  earned  the 
distinction  of  having  her  name  inscribed  high  on  the  'roll  of  honor'  of  American 
ladies  who,  although  disqualified  from  entering  the  field  of  actual  war,  yet  upon  another 
field  contributed  equally  to  the  grand  triumphs  which  our  arms  achieved.  As  Governor 
of  the  State,  and  trying  to  interest  myself  not  only  in  the  active  military  movements 
of  our  troops,  but  in  the  sanitary  efforts  made  throughout  the  State  to  relieve  their 
distresses  and  promote  their  comfort,  the  good  deeds  of  Mrs.  TVoodworth  were  brought 
to  my  notice;  and  I  am  proud  to  bear  testimony  to  the  intelligent  devotion  of  this  noble 
lady  to  the  Union  caus«,  and  to  her  benevolence  and  kindness  to  our  brave  boys,  and  to 
those  at  home  who  were  striving  for  their  success  and  sending  stores  for  their  comfort 
in  those  scenes  of  danger  and  suffering,  far  away  upon  the  distant  battle-fields  of  the 
South." 

Such  a  life  as  our  sketch  portrays  carries  its  moral  in  the  exaltation 
of  unselfish  virtue.  Mr.  Woodworth  has  not  lived  for  self-aggrandize- 
ment— to  build  a  name,  or  reap  a  fortune.  He  has  not  withheld  his  hand 
from  appeals  of  religion  or  charity,  that  dying  he  might  daz2de  by  his 
munificence.  He  has  lived  for  others  as  well  as  himself.  He  has  spent 
influence,  time  and  money,  in  order  to  build  up  the  city,  extend  the 
privileges  of  citizens,  and  uphold  education,  religion,  and  the  ministering 
of  charity.  In  testimony  we  have  only  to  look  at  our  University,  our 
churches,  two  of  our  finest  public  buildings,  the  orphans'  estate  that  flour- 
ished under  his  care;  to  those  who  have  found  shelter  and  a  home  beneath 
his  roof,  and  those  whom  he  has  counseled  and  aided,  and  we  find  the 
record  reads  more  fair  than  the  history  of  princely  fortunes  or  the  story 
of  many  a  lauded  name. 


I 


JOHN  L.  HANCOCK. 


There  are  few  among  us  who  have  not  looked  with  a  feeling  of  pride 
on  the  mammoth  packing  business  of  Chicago,  the  one  branch  of  industry 
in  which  she  has  taken  the  lead  of  the  world,  passing  Cincinnati  in  a  race 
of  two  or  three  years,  and  taking  from  her  the  palm  on  which  she  prided 
herself  so  much  as  the  "porkopolis"  of  the  continent.  That  mighty 
army  of  hogs  and  cattle  Avhich  yearly  passes  under  the  cleaver  in  this 
city,  amounting  one,  year  to  fully  a  million  head,  yield  up  in  their  death 
struggles  a  great  element  in  the  life  of  the  community.  They  contribute 
very  largely  to  our  pre-eminence  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  furnish 
employment  to  thousands  at  that  time  of  the  year  when  it  is  otherwise 
scarcest,  and  make  our  city  the  distributing  point  whence  are  fed  millions 
of  men  in  all  parts  of  the  globe. 

When  we  consider  the  short  term  of  years  in  which  this  pre-eminence 
has  been  wrought,  and  the  few  firms  to  whom  it  is  due,  we  can  properly 
accredit  them  with  the  service  they  have  rendered  to  this  community. 
The  number  of  packers  now  in  the  city  is  large,  but  the  supremacy  of 
Chicago  was  established  several  years  ago,  while  yet  the  number  Avas  few. 
Among  that  few  the  house  of  Cragin  &  Co.  takes  a  foremost  rank,  and 
to  Colonel  John  L.  Han(X)CK,  the  resident  partner,  the  founder  and 
manager  of  the  business  in  this  city,  is  that  proud  position  ascribable.  It 
is  his  tact  and  talent,  his  enterprise  and  energy,  which  have  made  the 
packing  establishment  of  Cragin  &  Co.,  in  this  city,  renowned  through 
Europe,  as  well  as  the  United  States,  and  caused  its  beef  and  pork  to  be 
eagerly  sought  after  by  dealers  as  reliably  of  a  quality  which  knows  no 
superior,  being  of  uniform  excellence. 


158  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

Colonel  Hancock  was  born  in  the  town  of  Buxton,  Maine,  March  16, 
1812.  He  lived  there  until  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  then  removed  to 
Hiram,  in  the  same  State,  where  he  remained  several  years.  The  early 
part  of  his  life  was  passed,  almost  without  incident,  in  connection  with 
cattle,  the  only  noteworthy  thing  being  that  he  was  known  as  a  good 
judge  and  careful  handler  of  stock.  In  1833,  he  removed  to  the  town 
of  Westbrook,  Maine,  where  he  engaged  in  the  business  of  beef  packing 
with  considerable  success.  He  remained  there  until  the  year  1854,  when 
he  formed  a  business  co-partnership  with  the  house  of  Cragin  &  Co.,  of 
New  York,  and  immediately  came  to  Chicago  as  the  Western  member 
of  the  firm.  From  the  first,  as  now,  he  was  one  of  the  best-known  and 
most  highly-respected  men  in  the  city,  taking  and  maintaining  a  high 
place  in  commercial  circles. 

He  arrived  in  Chicago  in  May,  1854,  and  immediately  commenced  the 
erection  of  a  packing  house  on  a  large  scale,  which  astonished  the  many, 
who  could  not  understand  where  the  business  would  come  from  to  keep  it 
running.  That  house  cost  thirty-two  thousand  dollars,  and  has  since 
been  enlarged  and  fitted  with  the  most  improved  appliances  for  slaugh- 
tering, etc.,  making  its  whole  cost  fully  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 
He  was  soon  known  as  a  very  heavy  operator.  At  this  time  there  Avas 
a  Board  of  Trade  in  existence,  but  its  life  was  weakly.  Only  a  year 
or  two  i)reviously  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  set  a  free  luncli  in  the 
room  to  insure  the  attendance  of  members,  and  in  1854  the  membership 
was  only  about  sixty,  and  the  Board  did  business  in  a  room  rented  at  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  annum.  Very  soon,  however,  the  order  of 
things  was  changed.  Live-stock  quotations  became  common,  and  the 
beef  and  pork  of  Chicago  found  their  way  rapidly  into  the  English 
market,  where  they  met  with  great  favor  and  a  readily  increasing  sale. 
Mr.  Hancock  was  very  active  on  ^Change,  and  was  early  elected  Second 
Vice-President,  then  First  Vice-President.  In  1863,  he  was  chosen 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  twelve  months  afterwards  the  Board 
showed  their  high  appreciation  of  his  worth  and  ability  by  conferring 
on  him  the  unusual  honor  of  re-electing  him  to  serve  a  second  term. 
Meanwhile,  he  sedulously  attended  to  his  business,  which,  under  careful 
management,  has  shown  a  steady  increase  amid  the  fluctuations  experienced 
bv  others.  The  firet  year  of  his  residence  in  Chicago,  the  business  of  the 
firm  amounted  to  the,  then,  enormous  figure  of  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  taxing  all  the  capabilities  of  the  establishment,  and  showing  the 


JOHN    L.    IIAXCOfK.  159 

\\oiulorers  that  lie  knew  what  he  was  calcinating  on.  Since  then  the 
business  of  the  house  has  increased  fully  ten-fold,  the  books  of  last  year 
showing  a  footing  of  over  three  millions  on  the  balance  sheet. 

But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  business  world,  that  he  has  made  his  mark. 
He  has  ilone  nobly,  gloriously  for  his  country.  The  part  taken  by  the 
Chicago  Board  of  Trade  in  sustaining  the  hands  of  the  Government  all 
through  the  long  night  of  its  darkest  trial,  is  well  known  as  forming  one 
of  the  brightest  pages  in  our  national  history.  That  work  was  done  bv 
the  Board,  who  rallied  as  one  man  to  the  glorious  eifort,  and  no  individual 
may  claim  the  credit  of  having  done  so  much.  But  if  there  be  one  to 
Avhom  especial  praise  is  due,  it  is  to  Colonel  Hancock.  From  the  first 
moment  that  the  boom  of  rebel  cannon  was  heard,  until  the  armies  of 
Johnson  and  Lee  surrendered,  he  was  ever  doing,  always  active,  liberal 
to  a  high  degree,  hopeful  where  many  others  were  despondent,  and  ever 
ready  to  cheer  forward  by  his  counsel  and  help  Avith  his  money.  In  1861, 
at  the  very  outbreak  of  the  deadly  strife,  he  took  a  prominent  part  in 
raising  regiments  for  the  field,  and  his  office,  at  No.  19  South  Wells 
street,  was  made  the  headquarters  for  the  organization  of  the  first  battalion 
of  troops  that  was  called  out  to  do  duty  at  Cairo. 

Soon  after  their  departure.  Colonel  Hancock  was  supported  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  in  the  endeavor  to  send  other  men  forward  to  the  field, 
and  entered  with  his  whole  soul  into  the  work.  Presently,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  raise  a  body  of  men,  to  be  called  the  "Chicago  Board  of  Trade 
Battery."  A  meeting  was  called  and  resolutions  adopted  to  commence  at 
once.  A  War  Committee  was  formed,  of  which  Colonel  Hancock  was 
chosen  Chairman,  and  soon  the  Battery  was  raised,  the  expense  of  sending 
it  into  the  field  being  borne  by  the  Board,  with  the  additional  respon- 
sibility of  bringing  back  to  this  city,  for  burial,  the  bodies  of  such  as 
should  die  in  support  of  the  cause  all  loved  so  well.  Then  came  three 
full  regiments  in  rapid  succession,  all  raised  by  the  direction  of  the 
Board  and  through  the  active  exertions  of  the  committee.  A  regiment  of 
guards  fijr  the  defense  of  the  city  was  the  last  organization  of  this  move- 
ment, under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  and  the  Union  Defence  Committee. 
This  regiment  was  afterwards  re-organized  for  the  service  as  the  One 
Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers. 

But  Herculean  as  was  this  labor,  it  was  far  from  being  all.  The  boys 
were  not  only  sent  out,  but  cared  for.  Every  now  and  then  would  come 
up  from  the  battle-field  the  call  for  aid,  and  that  call  was  never  unheeded ; 


160  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

it  ever  met  with  a  liberal  response.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars 
were  raised  again  and  again  on  'Change,  and  each  succeeding  time  found 
the  purse-strings  open  as  liberally  as  at  first.  Colonel  Hancock  not  only 
ascended  the  platform  and  asked  for  contributions,  but  he  gave  liberally 
himself,  setting  a  noble  example  which  his  brother  members  were  not 
slow  to  follow.  The  soldiers  were  cared  for  in  going  out,  cheered  with 
words  of  counsel  and  aided  with  creature  comforts;  they  were  followed 
and  assisted  in  the  field,  and  met  on  their  return  home  with  an  open  hand 
and  a  cordial  welcome.  In  all  this  Colonel  Hancock  was  active,  untiring. 
As  Chairman  of  the  AVar  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  his  duties 
were  ceaseless,  and  his  heart  was  in  the  work. 

In  1865,  near  the  close  of  the  war,  Colonel  Hancock  was  ordered  to 
take  charge  of  Camp  Fry,  then  designated  as  the  place  for  oz'ganizing  the 
new  regiments  of  troops.  He  took  command,  and  under  his  regime  the 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-Seventh,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-Third  and 
One  Hundred  and  Fii'ty-Sixth  were  organized,  and  several  other  com- 
panies completed  to  fill  up  dilapidated  regiments  in  the  field.  During 
the  time  tliat  Camp  Fry  was  under  his  care,  a  large  amount  of  bounty 
money  came  into  his  hands  from  recruits,  and  the  large  sum  of  twenty- 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  dollars  was  left  Avith  him  by  deserters  who 
failed  to  report  in  the  field,  for  whose  especial  benefit  the  regulation  was 
made  that  the  money  be  not  paid  to  the  recruit  until  his  departure  for  the 
scene  of  active  duty.  The  money  was  afterwards  paid  over  by  him  into 
the  State  Treasurj'^,  through  the  Governor,  in  aid  of  the  Soldiers'  Orphans' 
Home. 

The  Board  of  Trade  found  itself,  in  1864,  too  much  circumscribed  in 
its  place  of  meeting,  and,  after  some  discussion,  it  was  decided  to  form 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  A&sociation,  to  erect  a  building  for  its  use. 
Colonel  Hancock  subscribed  largely  to  the  stock  of  the  Association,  was 
elected  one  of  its  Directors,  and  busied  himself  deeply  in  the  work,  giving 
much  of  his  time  to  the  preliminary  arrangements,  and  doing  all  that  he 
could  to  secure  perfect  satisfaction  to  all  parties  concerned.  The  result 
of  those  labors,  in  conjunction  with  others,  is  shown  in  the  magnificent 
building  which  now  forms  the  focus  of  the  commercial  activity  of  Chicago 
— a  building  which,  for  perfect  adaptability  to  its  required  uses,  has  few 
equals  in  the  known  world. 

Colonel  Hancock  was  also  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  movement 
to  institute  a  central  stock  yards  system,  in  place  of  the  scattered  yards 


JOHN    L.    HANCOCK.  161 

around  which  it  was  necessary  to  travel  daily  in  order  to  do  business 
intelligently.  He  is  to-day  the  only  packer  wiio  is  a  large  stockholder  in 
the  Union  Yards.  He  is  also  a  prominent  member  of  the  Packers' 
^Association,  and  was  originally  elected  a  Director  in  tiie  Packers' 
Insurance  Company  of  this  city. 

The  character  of  the  man  scarcely  needs  description,  after  reading  the 
above  sketch.  It  is  apparent  that  he  is  the  embodiment  of  activity,  and 
tireless  in  his  movements.  He  is  one  of  those  who  know  how  to  des])atch 
business,  getting  through  the  work  of  a  day  in  one  or  two  hours,  yet 
without  relaxing  in  vigilance.  There  are  few  men  who  would  have  been 
able  to  carry  on  such  a  multifarious  mass  of  operations,  and  all  so  success- 
fully, during  the  past  few  years,  as  himself.  That  he  is  the  soul  of  honor 
is  known  to  every  one  who  ever  did  business  with  him.  He  is  not 
capable  of  any  of  those  petty  tricks  and  evasions  of  responsibility  which 
some  men  dignify  by  the  name  of  smartness.  He  is  a  firm  friend — always 
to  be  relied  on. 

Colonel  Hancock  is  past  the  middle  age,  but  sprightly  as  ever,  can 
endure  as  much  hard  Avork,  and  is  equally  as  fond  of  it  as  in  the  days 
gone  by,  when  working  for  the  competence  which  he  has  long  since 
attained.  He  is  one  who  will  die  in  harness,  and,  though  living  to  be  a 
hundred,  will  never  enjoy  other  than  a  green  old  age. 


GEORGE  FREDERICK  ROOT. 


George  Frederick  Root,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  has  achieved 
a  national  reputation  as  a  song  writer.  An  eminent  author  has  said  that 
if  he  could  make  the  songs  of  the  people,  others  might  make  the  laws,  so 
potent  is  the  effect  of  the  former  in  moulding  the  opinions,  swaying  the 
j)assions,  and  directing  the  popular  current.  In  this  respect,  Mr.  Root 
has  been  singularly  successful.  While  neither  he  nor  his  friends  claim 
for  his  music  a  place  among  the  great  productions  of  pure  classic  art,  they 
do  claim,  with  indisputable  force,  that  he  has  been  a  prominent  musical 
educator  of  the  people,  and  that  his  teachings  have  always  been  in  the 
interests  of  patriotism,  truth,  and  religion. 

George  Frederick  Root  was  born  August  30,  1820,  in  Sheffield, 
Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Housatonic  River, 
and  amid  the  wild  and  sublime  scenery  for  whicli  AVestern  INIassachusetts 
is  so  famous.  His  musical  talents  began  to  evince  themselves  at  a  very 
early  period  of  his  life,  and  l)y  the  time  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  he 
could  play  upon  as  many  instruments.  At  the  age  of  six,  his  father 
removed  to  North  Reading,  Mass.,  a  short  distance  from  Boston,  where 
for  twelve  years  George  divided  his  time  between  school  studies,  mechan- 
ical employments,  farming,  and  nmsic. 

AVhen  George  had  reached  the  age  of  seventeen,  his  father  went  to 
South  America,  where  another  of  liis  sons,  Towner  (now  one  of  tlic 
members  of  the  firm  of  Root  &  Cady),  already  was,  an<l  George,  being  the 
oldest  of  eight  children,  was  left  in  charge  of  the  family.  Shortly  after, 
he  went  to  Boston,  hoping  to  make  his  nmsieal  knowledge  remunerative. 
Being  a  good  flutist,  he  at  first  determined  to  seek  a  position  in  a  theatre 
orchestra,  but  this  design  was  abandoned  by  the  advice  of  Mr.  A.  N. 
Johnson,  then  one  of  the  best  organists  in  Boston.     He  was  in  need  ol"  a 


164  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

competent  person  to  take  charge  of  his  music  rooms,  and  offering  the 
situation  to  George,  he  accepted  it.  By  his  mastery  of  the  details  of 
business,  and  his  close  attention  to  the  duties  assigned  him,  he  soon  gained 
the  entire  confidence  of  his  employer.  During  his  stay  here,  he  learned 
to  play  upon  the  piano,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  was  able 
to  assist  Mr.  Johnson  in  his  classes.  A  few  months  later,  he  began  to 
play  the  organ  in  church.  His  attention  was  next  turned  to  vocal  music, 
receiving  lessons  from  ]\Ir.  George  James  Webb.  Before  he  had  been  in 
Mr.  Johnson's  employ  a  year,  he  was  admitted  as  a  partner.  During  the 
five  years  Avhich  the  partnership  continued,  their  time  was  constantly 
employed  in  teaching  singing  classes,  and  attending  to  the  music,  of  which 
they  had  charge,  in  the  Park  and  Winter  Street  Churches. 

In  1844,  through  the  influence  of  the  celebrated  author,  Rev.  Jacob 
Abbott,  and  his  brother,  who  kejjt  a  young  ladies'  school  in  New  York, 
]\Ir.  Root  removed  to  that  city  and  commenced  teaching  in  the 
school.  His  brother  Towner,  who  had  now  returned  from  South  America, 
and  who  was  an  excellent  musician,  joined  him  in  these  labors.  They 
taught  in  Abbott's  Institute,  also  in  Rutger's,  Si)ingler's,  Miss  Haines', 
the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  the  Institution  for  the  Blind,  and  had 
charge  of  the  music  in  the  Mercer  Street  Church. 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Root  ended  his  bachelor  days,  and  his  brother 
entered  the  music  house  of  Wm.  Hall  &  Son.  After  erecting  a  new  house 
for  his  parents  at  the  old  homestead,  and  christening  it  "  Willow  Farm," 
George  went  to  Europe,  where  he  studied  closely  for  a  year.  Upon  his 
return,  he  attempted  his  first  musical  composition  designed  for  popular 
effect — the  well-known  "Hazel  Dell."  His  little  venture  was  published 
over  the  nom  de  iMime  of  "Wurzel."  The  song  met  with  an  immense 
success,  and  gained  him  a  wide-spread  popularity.  Messrs.  Hall  &  Sou, 
foreseeing  his  futm*e  success,  secured  him  to  write  songs  exclusively  for 
them  for  three  years.  The  popular  cantata  of  "The  Flower  Queen" 
followed,  and  various  other  compositions  rapidly  succeeded  this,  among 
which  were  several  works  issued  in  connection  with  Dr.  Lowell  Mason  and 
AVilliam  B.  Bradbury. 

In  1852,  he  projected  his  long-cherished  plan  of  an  institute  for 
teachers  of  music,  which  should  be  held  annually,  in  the  summer  months. 
The  following  year,  he  gave  his  plans  practical  shape,  in  Dodworth's  Hall, 
New  York,  under  the  name  of  the  Normal  Musical  Institute.  Many 
distinguished  musical  instructors  joined  him  in  tliis  new  enterprise,  among 


GEORGE  FREDERICK  ROOT.  165 

them,  Dr.  Lowell  Mason,  William  B.  Bradbuiy,  Dr.  Thomas  Hastings, 
Richard  Storrs  Willis.  Out  of  this  Institute  grew  the  famous  North 
Reading  Institute,  which  accomplished  wonders  for  musical  education  in 
New  England,  and  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  music  all  over  the  country. 
The  Reading  Institute,  the  scene  of  so  many  pleasant  re-unions,  and  of  so 
much  genuine  good  social  feeling,  may  be  set  down  as  the  parent  of 
musical  institutes  in  this  country. 

In  1855,  Mr.  Root  gave  up  teaching  in  New  York,  and  settled  down 
in  the  beautiful  seclusion  of  AVillow  Farm,  devoting  his  time  to  musical 
composition.  During  this  time,  many  sparkling  songs  fluttered  forth 
from  under  the  shade  of  the  willows,  carrying  with  them  happiness  and 
delight  to  households  near  and  far.  Now  and  then  he  ventured  out  of 
his  beautiful  retreat,  to  attend  conventions,  and  in  these  tours  often  got  as 
far  west  as  Chicago.  It  was  when  making  such  a  tour,  in  1860,  that  he 
determined  to  remain  here  permanently,  as  a  member  of  the  well-known 
music  firm  of  Root  &  Cady,  one  of  the  leading  houses,  not  alone  of  the 
West,  but  of  the  United  States,  whose  imprints  are  numbered  by 
thousands,  and  have  been  scattered  all  over  the  country,  indissolubly 
connecting  the  name  of  the  house  with  the  history  of  music  in  the  United 
States,  and  exercising  a  vital  influence  upon  musical  culture.  Since  his 
connection  with  this  firm,  it  has  grown  into  a  mammoth  enterprise, 
far  outstripping  most  of  the  music  houses,  even  of  the  East,  both  in  its 
publications  and  business.  During  Mr.  Root's  residence  in  Chicago,  his 
record  is  well  known  to  all  our  citizens,  and  we  therefore  close  here  the 
incidents  of  his  life. 

]VIr.  Root  has  been  an  industrious  writer,  and  his  musical  efforts  have 
paid  him  a  very  handsome  return.  Among  the  best  of  his  songs  are  "  The 
Hazel  Dell,"  "Rosalie,  the  Prairie  Flower,"  "The  Vacant  Chair," 
"The  Shining  Shore,"  "The  Battle  Cry  of  Freedom,"  "Tramp,  Tramp," 
"Just  Before  the  Battle,"  "On,  On,  the  Boys  Come  Marching," 
"Just  After  the  Battle,"  "There's  Music  in  the  Air,"  "Old  Folks  are 
Gone,"  "Mary  of  the  Glen,"  "Reaper  on  the  Plain,"  "Never  Forget  the 
Dear  Ones,"  "Brother,  tell  me  of  the  Battle,"  "Day  of  Liberty's  Coming," 
"Farewell,  Father,  Friend  and  Guardian,"  "Forward,  Boys,"  "The  Little 
Octoroon,"  "  Lay  me  Down  and  Save  the  Flag,"  "  Stand  Up  for  Uncle 
Sam,"  "Starved  in  Prison,"  "Who'll  Save  the  Left?"  and  "Columbia's 
Call."  Among  his  larger  works  are  "The  Academy  Vocalist,"  "Sabbath 
Bell,"  "Festival  Glee  Book,"  "The  Young  Men's  Singing  Book,"  "The 


166  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Musical  Album,"  "The  Diapason,"  "Silver  Lute,"  "Silver  Chimes," 
"School  for  the  Cabinet  Organ,"  "Bugle  Call,"  "The  Musical  Curri- 
culum," "Forest  Choir;"  also,  the  cantatas  of  "The  Flower  Queen," 
"Daniel,"  "The  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  "The  Haymakers,"  and  " Belshazzar's 
Feast." 

All  his  works  have  been  remarkably  successful,  and  have  had 
immense  circulation,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  abroad.  "Shining 
Shore  "  is  sung  at  every  missionary  station  on  the  globe.  His  "  Battle  Cry 
of  Freedom  "  Avas  the  slogan  of  the  English  people  at  their  Eeform  rallies 
in  the  early  part  of  1867;  and  at  the  concerts  and  in  the  singing  schools 
of  the  people  in  England,  Mr.  Root's  music  is  perhaps  more  largely  used 
than  that  of  any  other  author.  The  London  publisher  of  a  popular 
system  of  notation  in  England,  writing  for  his  photograph  recently,  said : 
"Your  name  is  a  household  word  among  our  singers  throughout  the 
Kingdom."  Letters  from  Germany  report  that  his  popular  songs  are 
frequently  heard  there,  and  are  admired  for  their  melodiousness  and 
American  peculiarities.  In  our  own  country,  from  Maine  to  Texas,  there 
are  but  few  A\ho  have  not  heard  of  George  F.  Root,  and  few  M'ho  have 
not  sung  his  music.  It  may  not  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  sketch, 
therefore,  to  examine  ^Ir.  Root's  place  in  the  musical  world,  and  the 
causes  which  have  given  such  great  popularity  to  his  productions. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  people  can  appreciate  at  once  the 
works  of  the  great  masters  of  music  like  Bach,  Gluck,  Beethoven, 
Palestrina,  and  Mozart.  It  is  equally  a  fallacy  to  suppose  that  people 
must  always  remain  contented  Avitli  the  elementary  lessons  of  this  art. 
Musical  culture  is  eminently  progressive.  One  who  has  not  been  educated 
in  it  cannot  at  once  grasp  the  beauties  and  sublimities  of  Beethoven's 
Heroic  Symphony,  any  more  than  he  can  the  sublimities  of  a  work  by 
Raphael  or  IMichael  Angelo,  or  the  architecture  of  the  Pantheon.  There 
must  be  culture — an  education  of  tastes  and  feelings,  and  a  certain  knowl- 
edge of  technicalities.  Mr.  Root  has  pre-eminently  been  a  musical 
educator,  and  thousands  of  pupils  have  graduated  under  his  personal 
instruction,  and  that  of  his  works,  being  thus  prepared  to  go  a  step  higher. 
He  has  given  them  the  fundamental  theories,  wdiich  alone  can  fit  them  to 
enter  the  enchanted  grounds  of  music,  and  those  thousands  date  back  their 
love  of  it  to  his  successful  and  conscientious  teachings.  He  has  drawn  the 
mass  of  the  people  up  from  musical  rudiments  to  a  higher  grade,  and  given 
them  the  necessary  preparations  for  still  greater  advancement.     However 


GEOiicE  FinoPKr.icK  HOOT.  107 

successfully  ho  might  have  aspired  to  holder  flights  of  music,  he  has  been 
content  to  lill  this  important  [tart  of  edueation,  and  lend  to  his  position 
the  best  eflbrts  of  his  musical  knowledge  and  experience.  He  has 
especially  taught  the  mass  of  the  people  to  appreciate  the  value  and  beaut}- 
of  melody,  and  in  this  respect  he  has  been  successful  to  a  remarkable 
degree. 

It  is  another  characteristic  of  INIr.  Root's  music,  that  his  pen  has 
always  Avi'itten  in  the  interests  of  truth,  patriotism,  and  religion.  The 
church  and  the  Sabbath  Schools,  the  Anti-Slavery  and  the  Temperance 
Societies,  all  organizations  of  men  banded  together  to  advance  freetlom, 
humanity,  and  morality,  have  used  his  songs  as  their  most  potent  auxiliary. 
Perhaps  this  characteristic  was  most  strikingly  manifested  during  the  recent 
war  of  the  rebellion.  His  stirring  lyrics  aroused  and  kept  alive  the 
patriotism  of  the  people  at  home,  and  sustained  and  animated  the  soldier 
in  the  field.  His  "Battle  Cry  of  Freedom,"  dashed  off  when  the  iron 
Avas  at  white  heat,  and  sent  forth  in  a  crisis  of  the  nation,  carried  with  it 
the  power  of  a  battalion  of  strong  arms.  It  aroused  the  drooping 
spirits  of  the  people.  It  re-animated  the  faint-hearted.  It  was  the  rally- 
ing cry  of  all  patriotic  gatherings.  It  was  sung  everywhere,  from  INIaine 
to  Oregon.  It  flew  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  to  the  Union  camps  in  the 
South,  and  the  boys  in  blue  sent  it  to  rebel  ears  from  the  mouth  of  the 
cannon  and  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Its  power  was  irresistible.  Its 
influence  was  immense.  He  touched  with  his  finger  the  paralyzed  public 
spirit,  and  it  sprang  into  resistless  activity.  He  swept  his  strings,  sound- 
ing a  simple  melody  which  went  straight  to  the  heart  of  the  loyal  North, 
and,  like  the  heart  of  Bruce,  went  before  our  banners  at  Vicksburg,  and 
Shiloh,  and  Lookout,  and  Richmond.  Nor  has  its  influence  ended  with 
the  struggle  which  gave  it  birth,  for  the  people  of  other  lands,  struggling 
for  their  rights,  have  caught  its  inspiration.  Although  this  song  has 
exerted  a  mighty  influence  on  the  side  of  patriotism,  yet  that  of  "Tiic 
Shining  Shore"  has  been  equally  potent  on  the  side  of  morality  and  trntii; 
whilst  his  "  Vacant  Chair  "  has  done  much  towards  cementing  still  closer 
the  ruptured  ties  of  many  a  household. 

In  surveying  the  past  career  of  Mr.  Root,  it  is  pleasing  to  know  that 
he  has  never  desecrated  his  talent  to  immoral  or  even  frivolous  objects. 
His  sympathies  have  always  been  enlisted  on  the  right  side,  and  his  songs, 
whether  music  or  words,  reflect  only  what  is  good,  true  and  noble. 

The  world  at  large  know  Mr.  Root  only  by  his  music.     But  there  is  a 


168  BIOGRAPHICAL '  'SKETCHES. 

home  circle  and  a  large  number  of  personal  friends  who  prize  him  for 
other  valuable  qualities  besides  those  of  music.  He  is  a  man  of  unblem- 
ished honor ;  of  keen,  quick  perceptions  of  truth ;  never  giving  an  insult, 
but  prompt  to  resent  one;  genial  and  sunny  in  disposition,  broad  and 
humane  in  his  views,  lively  in  his  sympathies,  and  strong  in  his  attach- 
ments, especially  in  the  home  circle,  adorned  by  an  accomplished  wife,  and 
children  growing  up  with  fair  prospects  of  wearing  their  father's  mantle. 
His  brothers,  sisters  and  children  all  share  with  him  the  same  keen 
deliglit  in  music,  and  have  made  their  mark  in  the  advancement  of  the 
musical  interests  of  Chicago. 

In  summing  up  the  character  of  Mr.  Root,  we  should  say,  that,  as  a 
melodist,  few,  if  any,  American  comjiosers  have  ever  surpassed  him ;  that, 
as  a  teacher,  his  success  has  been  unparalleled,  and  his  influence  upon 
musical  progress  always  beneficent;  and  that  thousands  feel  grateful  to 
him  for  opening  up  to  them  the  avenues  which  have  introduced  them 
to  so  much  that  is  beautiful  and  noble  in  his  flivorite  art.  In  his  private 
life  he  isj  a  public  spirited,  philanthropic  citizen  and  a  Christian  gentleman. 


THOMAS  0.  OSBOENE. 


The  State  of  Illinois  achieved  a  glorioas  record  in  the  \var  lor  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Far  within  the  memory  of  the  oldest 
inhabitant  she  was  herself  a  slave  to  the  "first  families."  She  "  belonged  " 
to  that  State  which  was  more  recently  the  head  of  the  vile  secession  mon- 
ster. But  she  was  emancipated  from  the  rule  of  the  "Old  Dominion," 
and  took  her  part  right  gallantly  in  killing  off  the  cobra  whose  deathly 
folds  had  criLshed  out  happiness  and  hope  from  the  lives  of  millions. 
She  gave  Lincoln  to  sign  its  death  warrant,  and  Grant  to  execute  it.  She 
sent  out  her  sons  by  hundreds  of  thousands  to  grave  the  order  indelibly 
on  Southern  soil  with  the  points  of  their  bayonets,  and  poured  out  her 
money  like  water  to  aid  her  brave  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  minister  to 
their  wants  M-lien  sick  or  wounded. 

One  of  the  first  of  the  many  thousands  who  went  out  from  Chicago 
to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  Union  armies,  and  occupying  an  enviable 
position  by  reason  of  the  conspicuous  part  taken  by  him  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war,  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch — Brevet  Major-General 
Thomas  O.  Osborne.  He  was  one  of  the  few  Illinois  men  who  were  on 
duty  in  the  East  almost  from  the  first  call  to  arms  till  the  final  collapse. 
He  shared  in  all  the  toils,  dangers,  and  honors  of  the  long  struggle, 
attaining  his  successive  promotions  as  the  rewards  of  distinguislicd 
services  rendered  to  the  Union  cause — services  for  which  thousands  would 
have  given  their  lives  could  they  have  had  the  honor  of  performing  them. 

Thomas  O.  Osborne  was  born  August  11,  1832,  in  Jersey,  Licking 
county,  Ohio.  After  preliminary  training  in  the  schools  of  his  nalivc 
town,  he  entered  the  University  of  Ohio,  from  Avhich  he  graduated  in 
18o4,  with  tlic  liighest  honors  of  his  class.     Soon  after  leaving  college,  he 


170  BIOGEAPHICAX,   SKETCHES. 

engaged  in  the  study  of  law,  at  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  with  Lewis 
AVallace,  now  Major-General.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  almost 
immediately  removed  to  Chicago,  arriving  in  this  city  in  the  winter  of 
1858.  In  the  Garden  City  he  was  known  as  a  young  lawyer  of  good 
abilities  and  great  promise,  and  was  rapidly  rising  in  his  profession  when 
the  war  began. 

Mr.  Osborne  very  early  recognized  the  magnitude  of  the  coming 
struggle,  and  immediately  resolved  to  engage  in  it  till  the  end.  He  was 
among  tlie  foremost  to  profter  his  services  to  the  Government,  and  placed 
his  name  on  the  roll  of  a  company  then  forming,  determined  to  enlist  as  a 
private  soldier  rather  than  seem  indiiferent  to  the  call  to  arms.  Soon  after 
this,  he  telegraphed  to  Governor  Yates,  tendering  him  a  regiment  to  be 
called  the  "Yates  Phalanx."  The  reply  was  characteristic:  "Can't  accept 
now ;  l)ut  fill  your  regiment;  it  will  l)e  needed  soon."  Some  delay  occurring, 
the  regiment  Avas  tendered  direct  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  accepted 
the  dav  after  the  first  Bull  Run  disaster,  as  an  independent  regiment.  It 
was  soon  filled  to  the  maximum,  and  Osborne  was  unanimously  elected 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  he  having  declined  the  colonelcy  in  favor  of  Austin 
Light,  the  Captain  of  company  A,  avIio  had  been  in  the  regular  service, 
and  more  than  smelt  powder  in  the  Mexican  war.  In  December,  1861, 
Light  was  dismissed,  and  Osborne  was  promoted  to  fill  the  vacancy.  As 
Colonel  of  the  regiment,  he  won  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  men, 
and  of  his  superior  officers,  by  his  jiatriotism  and  valor  in  the  field,  and 
the  care  he  ever  exercised  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  his  command. 

Colonel  Osborne  was  stationed  at  Alpine,  Virginia,  M'ith  his  own 
regiment,  the  First  Virginia  regiment,  tM'o  cavalry  companies,  and  one 
section  of  artillery  under  his  command,  holding  General  Lander's  front 
line  from  Alpine  to  Great  Cacapon,  at  the  time  Stonewall  Jackson  made 
his  first  raid  into  Morgan  county,  with  a  force  of  fifteen  thousand  men, 
and  twelve  pieces  of  artillery.  Jackson  attacked  Osborne  with  his  whole 
force,  and  was  kept  at  bay  for  thirty-six  hours,  when  the  little  band  was 
ordered  to  fall  back,  and  cross  the  Potomac,  which  was  handsomely  accom- 
plished under  a  hea^y  fire.  Jackson  returned  to  his  camp.  In  a  few 
days  General  Lander  was  ready  to  give  him  battle  at  Winchester,  and  the 
night  before  the  army  moved,  sent  a  dispatch  to  Osborne  saying,  "Take 
the  advance  with  your  regiment,  and  move  forward  by  four  in  the  morn- 
ing ;  repair  the  roads  for  our  artillery,  where  needed.  Pemember :  you 
liave  my  full  confidence.     I  intrust  you  with  an  important  duty.     If  the 


THOMAS   O.    OSBORNE.  171 

enemy  attack,  light  him;  it"  you  are  all  taken  prisoners  1  will  take  you 
back  again."  At  the  battle  of  Winchester,  ^Vpril  23,  18G2,  Colonel 
Osborne,  with  his  own  regiment,  four  companies  of  the  Eighth  Ohio,  and 
one  battery,  was  posted  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  line  of  battle,  and 
repulsed  two  successive  cavalry  charges  made  by  Ashby's  eelebi'ated 
cavalry.  He  maintained  the  integrity  of  the  line,  and  aided  materially  in 
achieving  the  only  victory  ever  gained  over  the  redoubtable  Stonewall 
Jackson.  lie  subsequently  participated  in  all  the  movements  made  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  the  loug  march  to  Fredericksburii-,  and  back  to  the 
support  of  General  Banks,  and  was  then  placed  in  command  of  one  of  the 
two  brigades  sent  to  reinforce  McClellan.  They  reached  Harrison's 
Landing,  on  the  James  River,  in  time  to  perform  efficient  service,  and  for 
eleven  davs  following:  held  the  road  on  which  the  armv  of  the  Potomac 
had  retreated,  and  the  key  to  McClellan's  new  position,  being  close  to  the 
rebels,  and  skirmishing  with  them  continually.  He  was  then  ordered, 
with  his  command,  to  Suffolk,  Ya.,  where  he  remained  three  months, 
fortitying,  and  making  frequent  expeditions  to  the  lilackwater,  where 
heavy  skirmishing  frequently  occurred.  On  one  of  these  expeditions  his 
force  captured  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  large  number  of  prisoners. 

In  January,  1863,  while  at  Xewbern,  Xorth  Carolina,  he  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  Terry's  Division,  Foster's  Corps,  and 
ordered  to  Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina,  to  participate  in  the  attacks  on 
Fort  Sumter  and  Charleston  by  General  Hunter.  He  improved  the 
long  delay  at  Hilton  Head  by  drilling  and  disciplining  his  command  to  a 
higher  state  of  efficiency.  The  expedition  started  April  1,  and  he  landed 
on  Folly  Island  with  his  command  the  night  following,  and  was  directed 
to  hold  the  upper  end  of  the  island,  (separated  by  a  narrow  channel  from 
]Morris  Island,)  after  the  failure  of  the  fleet  to  take  Sumter,  and  its 
retreat  to  Hilton  Head.  The  position  was  a  critical  one,  but  all  was 
(juiet  till  he  found  the  blockade  runners  were  passing  the  fleet.  He 
reported  to  headquarters,  and  w\as  furnished  with  two  twenty-pounder 
Parrotts  just  in  time  to  enable  him  to  give  a  salute  to  a  Clyde-built 
steamer — the  "Ruby" — which  disabled  her,  and  caused  her  to  drift  on  a 
sand  bar,  under  the  guns  of  both  armies,  where  slie  was  visite<l  by  both 
parties  alternately,  till  she  was  emptied.  During  the  siege  on  Morris 
Island,  directly  afterwards,  Osljorne  was  in  command  of  the  trenihes 
almost  every  other  twenty-four  hours. 

A  day  or  two  previous   to  the   fall   of   Forts  Wagner  and     Sumlrr, 


172  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

Colonel  Osborne  was  temporarily  disabled  by  the  premature  discharge  of 
a  two  hundred-pounder  Parrott  gun  immediately  behind  him,  the  shell 
passing  just  above  his  head  while  he  was  directing  the  fire  of  his  small  field- 
pieces  upon  Fort  Wagner,  which  had  just  opened  fire  on  his  trenches. 
The  concussion  was  so  great  as  to  render  him  insensible  for  some  time,  and 
rupture  the  tympanum  of  one  ear.  Immediately  after  the  fall  of  these 
forts,  he  returned  to  Folly  Island  with  his  regiment  to  rest,  and  soon  after 
embarked  for  Hilton  Head.  Here  the  men  of  the  gallant  Thirty-ninth 
Illinois,  sharing  the  enthusiasm  of  their  leader,  resolved  to  re-enlist,  and 
the  Yates  Phalanx  had  the  proud  distinction  of  being  the  first  regiment 
in  the  Department  of  the  South  to  accept  of  veteran  honors.  They 
embarked  for  New  York,  en  route  for  Chicago,  on  veteran  furlough, 
January  1,  1864,  amid  the  plaudits  of  assembled  thousands,  and  escorted 
by  an  entire  brigade,  led  by  several  Generals  and  their  staff  officers. 

The  veteran  regiment  sailed  on  the  9th  of  May  with  General  Butler's 
expedition  up  the  James  River.  On  the  16tli  he,  with  his  command, 
formed  tlie  extreme  left  of  the  line  of  battle  at  Drury's  Bluff.  He  had 
just  received  the  compliments  of  General  Terry,  with  orders  to  charge  the 
enemy's  works  in  front,  when  the  rebels  came  out  and  gave  battle. 
Almost  at  the  first  fire  Colonel  Osborne  received  a  severe  wound,  which 
disabled  his  right  arm  for  life.  He  ordered  that  his  men  should  not  be 
informed  of  the  fact,  and  for  two  hours  thereafter  he  remained  in  the 
saddle,  with  his  mangled  arm  hanging  by  his  side,  until  compelled  by  the 
loss  of  blood  to  dismount,  when  his  arm  was  dressed  by  his  Adjutant. 
He  did  not  leave  the  field  until  the  battle  was  over,  though  advised  by 
General  Terry  to  do  so.  For  the  gallantry  he  had  displayed  throughout 
the  action,  he  received  the  most  flattering  encomiums,  with  the  rank  of 
Brigadier-General  by  brevet.  General  Butler,  addressing  the  regiment, 
said :  "  You  have  fought  most  gallantly,  and  suiSfered  most  severely.  Had 
we  had  men  like  you,  the  result  to  our  arms  would  have  been  different." 
Osborne  was  sent  the  next  day  to  Chesapeake  Hospital,  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  he  suffered  intense  agony  for  months.  It  was  at  one  time 
feared  that  amputation  would  be  necessary  to  save  his  life,  but  he  firmly 
refused  to  give  up  his  right  arm,  saying  he  would  rather  die. 

He  was  still  very  weak  when  he  left  the  hospital,  and  was  sent  home 
to  recuperate.  He  employed  his  leave  of  absence  noblyj  doing  good 
service  on  the  stump  in  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1864,  in  the  States 
of  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  under  the  direction  of  the  Republican 


THOMAS   O.    OSBORNE.  173 

Central  Committee.  About  the  first  of  December  lie  returned  to  the 
field,  though  warned  by  his  surgeon  that  he  was  fitter  fiDr  the  hospital 
than  for  field  service.  He  reported  to  Gen.  Terry  for  duty  in  front  of 
Kiehmond,  his  arm  being  yet  in  a  sling,  and  his  frame  so  debilitated  that 
he  could  not  mount  his  horse  without  assistance,  or  handle  his  sword. 
He  was  at  once  placed  in  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  First  Division, 
Twenty-fourth  Army  Corps,  to  which  his  own  regiment — the  gallant 
Thirty-ninth — was  attached.  During  the  winter  his  command  held  the 
line  on  the  immediate  front  of  Richmond,  on  the  north  side  of  the  James 
River,  known  as  the  "Horse  Shoe,"  having  now  and  then  a  skirmish  with 
the  enemy. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1865,  Osborne  led  his  brigade  in  the  charge  on 
Fort  Gregg,  the  key  to  the  works  about  Petersburg  and  Richmond.  This 
was  an  enclosed  fort,  situated  on  an  eminence,  in  an  open  space,  which 
Avas  commanded  by  five  other  forts  and  redoubts.  A  ditch  ten  feet  deep, 
twelve  feet  wide,  and  filled  with  water,  surrounded  it.  To  the  question 
from  his  division  commander,  if  he  could  take  the  fort  in  his  front, 
Osborne  replied  :  "  I  %vill  go  for  it,  and  not  come  back."  "  Go  forward," 
said  Foster :  and  tlie  charge  was  made,  over  the  low  and  swampy  ground, 
amid  a  perfect  storm  of  shell  and  musketry,  under  which  many  a  brave 
man  fell.  Osborne  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  horse  in  the  mud,  and 
continued  the  advance  on  foot.  The  ditch  being  crossed,  the  fight  became 
desperate.  The  men  climbed  the  parapets,  digging  footholds  with  their 
bayonets  in  the  slippery  soil.  The  parapets  were  reached,  and  then  a 
hand-to-hand  struggle  ensued,  which  lasted  for  the  full  si)ace  of  half  an 
hour  ere  the  victory  was  won  which  secured  the  fall  of  Petersburg  and 
Richmond.  The  entire  garrison  was  captured.  It  was  composed  of 
picked  men  from  the  Louisiana  and  Virginia  troops,  the  flower  of  the 
rebel  army;  they  succumbed  only  to  AVestern  Union  valor.  During  the 
entire  charge  and  subsequent  contest,  the  operations  of  the  whole  army 
ceased,  and  the  men  indulged  in  the  ^vildest  enthusiasm,  cheering  on  the 
First  Brigade  to  the  carnival  of  death.  Generals  Grant,  Ord,  Gibbon 
and  Foster  were  witnesses  of  this,  the  most  gallant  and  successful  charge 
made  during  the  entire  war.  The  importance  of  the  victory  was  well 
understood  by  both  sides.  The  rebels  fled  pell  mell  from  all  the  other 
forts  and  redoubts;  and  President  liincoln  sent  a  dispatch  to  Stanton 
in  these  words:  "A  portion  of  the  First  Division  of  the  Twenty-lnurth 
Army  Corps  has  just  taken  an  important  fort  on  Lee's  main  line;  unless 


174  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

Lee  can  re-establish  his  line,  he  must  leave  Petersburg  and  Richmond." 
For  the  bravery  displayed  on  this  occasion  Osborne  was  made  a  full 
Brigadier-General  of  volunteers,  and  a  magnificent  brazen  eagle  was 
presented  to  the  Yates  Phalanx,  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the 
recommendation  of  Generals  Grant,  Gibbon  and  Ord. 

General  Osborne  led  the  advance  of  the  army  in  the  immediately 
subsequent  pursuit  of  Lee's  flying  columns,  endeavoring  to  head  him  off 
from  Lynchburg.  The  march  was  rapid,  and  marked  by  continual 
skirmishes,  which,  at  Rice's  Station,  High  Bridge,  and  Farmersville, 
bordered  closely  on  pitched  battles.  The  day  before  the  surrender  tlic 
men  marclied  thirty-four  miles.  They  reached  Sheridan's  headquarters 
about  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  surrender,  and  after  half  an  hour's 
halt  the  brigade  started  on  the  double-quick  for  the  Lynchburg  road, 
about  a  mile  distant.  They  struck  the  road  just  behind  Sheridan's  cavalry, 
which  for  the  time  being  were  forced  back,  fixed  bayonets  on  the  run,  and 
charged  with  a  yell,  forcing  the  rebels  back  in  disorder.  That  yell  was 
the  first  intimation  to  Lee  that  he  had  infantry  in  his  front.  General 
Osborne's  horse  was  shot  three  times  during  the  engagement.  The  con- 
flict was  desperate,  but  the  rebels  gave  way  slowly,  and  finally  the  white 
flag  Avent  up  on  the  rebel  lines,  and  the  two  armies  laid  down  together  in 
l^eacc.  General  Foster,  in  his  official  report  to  General  Grant,  said  :  "  It 
was  oAving  to  the  promptness  of  General  Osborne  in  putting  his  command 
into  position,  and  attacking  the  enemy  on  the  morning  (after  the  cavalry 
had  been  forced  back)  of  the  surrender,  that  the  credit  of  preventing  the 
enemy  from  gaining  the  Lynchburg  road,  (his  only  line  of  retreat,)  and 
causing  the  surrender  so  soon,  is  due."  General  Osborne  was  noAv  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  Major-General  by  brevet,  the  following  reasons  being 
assigned  therefor  by  General  Grant  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  to  the 
Senate  :  "  For  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  front  of  Richmond  and 
Petersburg,  and  more  especially  for  gallantry  on  the  2d  and  9th  of  April, 
1865,  during  the  engagements  of  those  dates;  to  rank  from  April  2,  1865." 

General  Osborne  was  afterwards  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  First 
Division,  relieving  General  Foster,  who  was  detached  on  duty  at  Wash- 
ington city.  He  remained  in  command  until  October,  when  he  received 
leave  of  absence.  Seeing  that  the  war  was  over,  and  not  wishing  to  draw 
pay  without  service,  he  tendered  his  resignation,  to  take  effect  on  receipt, 
not  waiting  to  be  mustered  out. 

General  Osborne  returned  to  Chicago,  his  old  home.     The  people  here 


THOMAS    ().    OSRORNK.  IT') 

liad  shown  during  the  Sanitary  Fair  that  a  prophet  may  have  honor  in 
liis  own  country,  by  voting  to  him  one  of  the  two  pistols  awarded  to  the 
bravest  Generals  of  the  Union  armies.  Pie  was  subse(|ii('nt]y  appointed 
Postmaster  of  Chicago,  by  Johnson,  and  coniirmcd  by  tlic  Senate,  but 
would  not  accept  the  terms  of  the  President,  and  the  commission  was 
withheld.  He  preferred  not  to  wear  the  chain,  and  recommenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  tlie  law,  in  wliieh  he  will  yet  tiike  as  high  rank 
as  by  his  gallantry  in  the  field.  His  right  arm,  stiffened  forever  by  the 
rebel  bullet,  is  powerless  for  writing,  but  that  which  is  left  is  doing  good 
service,  and  his  sound  knowledge  of  law,  and  genuine  eloquence,  make 
him  a  most  successful  advocate. 

General  Osborne  is  a  stoutly  built  man,  of  medium  height,  bilious 
temperament,  and  almost  supernatural  powers  of  endurance.  As  a  soldier 
he  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  but  always  kind  and  just,  never  asking  his 
men  to  do  or  suffer  what  he  was  loth  to  face  himself.  He  -was  always  in 
the  advance;  and  his  only  leave  of  absence  during  the  whole  war  was  that 
necessitated  by  his  wound.  His  men  all  adored  him,  and  were  ready  to 
follow  him  to  the  death.  None  can  tell  how  many  of  the  brilliant  deeds 
of  the  men  of  his  command  were  due  to  his  j)ersonal  influence.  Possessed 
of  strong  will,  large  heart,  and  excellent  judgment,  he  is  emphatically  a 
man  of  power  among  his  fellows,  and  whether  in  the  field,  the  mass 
meeting,  the  coui*t  of  Justice,  or  the  Legislative  Hall,  he  will  necessarily 
command  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  associates. 


i3 


WILLIAM  F.  COOLBAUGH. 


Hon.  W.  F.  Coolbaugh  was  born  in  Pike  County,  Pennsylvania, 
July  1,  1821.  His  father  was  a  farmer.  The  advantages  which  he 
enjoyed  for  education  were  limited  in  the  extreme.  As  soon  as  he  was 
old  enough  to  be  of  any  service  on  the  farm,  he  was  kept  at  home  all  the 
year  round,  except  during  the  winter  months,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve 
his  school  days  ended  entirely.  The  only  branches  taught  in  the  schools 
of  that  day,  at  least  in  that  region,  were  reading,  writing,  spelling, 
arithmetic,  and,  in  rare  cases,  grammar.  It  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of 
note,  that  Mr.  Coolbaugh's  last  teacher  was  Lieutenant-Governor  Bross, 
of  this  city. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  with  his  limited  education,  and  neither  friends 
nor  money  to  help  him  on,  Mr.  Coolbaugh  resolved  to  leave  the  paternal 
roof,  and  seek  his  fortune  in  Philadelphia.  The  situation  which  opened 
to  him,  and  which  he  accepted,  was  that  of  assistant  porter  in  a  large 
wholesale  dry  goods  house.  Thus  far  Providence  had  not  worn  for  him  a 
smiling  face.  Born  in  a  dreary  and  isolated  locality  and  denied  good 
school  advantages,  he  left  home  to  sweep  floors  and  run  errands.  But, 
nothing  daunted  by  the  disadvantages  of  his  position,  at  the  very  foot 
of  the  ladder,  the  lad  entered  upon  and  continued  his  new  labors  with  all 
cheerfulness,  steadily  working  his  way  up  until,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he 
was  made  the  confidential  clerk.  Soon  after,  the  firm,  one  of  the  most 
extensive  in  the  city,  sent  him  to  the  far  West  and  Southwest,  where  he 
was  constantly  employed  in  its  business  until  he  became  of  age.  He  then 
went  into  business  for  himself. 

During  the  three  years  that  Mr.  Coolbaugh  had  the  entire  charge 
of  the  Western  business  of  the  house  to  which  he  belonged,  the  aggregate 


178  /  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

of  his  remittauces  exceeded  one  million  dollars.  He  was  obliged  to  travel 
a  great  deal,  and,  although  that  was  less  than  thirty  years  ago,  the 
traveling  was  principally  done  on  horseback.  It  appears  from  the  journal 
kept  by  him  during  that  time,  that  one  horse  bore  him  more  tlian  nine 
thousand  miles.  The  modern  "drummer"  knows  little  of  the  hardships 
of  the  commercial  traveler  in  those  days. 

When,  in  1842,  Mr.  Coolbaugh  concluded  to  be  his  own  employer,  he 
settled  at  Burlington,  Iowa.  For  eight  years  he  was  a  merchant  in  that 
city.  The  prosperity  which  crowned  his  efforts  to  acquire  wealtii  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  in  1850,  he  retired  from  the  mercantile 
business  and  became  a  banker.  The  banking-house  of  "Coolbaugh  & 
Brooks"  was  organized  at  that  time.  It  may  be  added,  that  the  firm  yet 
exists,  although  its  chief  business  was  finally  merged  into  the  Burlington 
Branch  of  the  State  Bank  on  the  organization  of  that  institution. 

At  this  period  we  find  Mr.  Coolbaugh  not  only  a  leader  among  the 
business  and  moneyed  men  of  Iowa,  but  also  in  the  front  rank  as  a 
politician.  AVith  the  restlessness  of  mingled  youth  and  manhood,  he 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  enter  the  arena  of  politics;  and  it  was 
well  that  he  did  so,  for  Iowa  is  not  a  little  indebted  to  his  rare  [)ractical 
wisdom  for  judicious  legislation  in  the  critical  period  of  its  infancy.  The 
first  service  whicii  he  rendered  the  State  was  in  the  capacity  of  Loan 
Agent,  a  jiosition  to  which,  much  to  his  surprise,  the  first  General 
Assembly  of  his  adopted  State  appointed  him.  In  tluit  capacity  lie 
negotiated  the  first  loan  Iowa  ever  made,  and  caused  the  issue  of  its  first 
bonds. 

Mr.  Coolbaugh  was  a  Democrat  of  the  Douglas  school,  possessing  the 
warm  personal  friendship  of  that  great  man.  In  the  Baltimore  Con- 
vention of  1852,  he  did  his  best  to  secure  his  nomination,  voting  for  him 
forty-nine  times.  For  eigiit  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Iowa  Senate, 
when  Senator  Grimes,  also  a  citizen  of  Burlington,  was  elected  Governor, 
and  Mr.  Coolbaugh  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  his  party  for  the  United 
States  Senate,  a  position  for  which  his  great  financial  ability  and  unpur- 
chasable  integrity  admirably  fitted  him.  But,  fortunately,  as  he  thinks, 
now  that  he  is  entirely  cured  of  the  political  fever,  his  friends  were  the 
minority  in  the  Assembly.  By  a  small  majority,  Professor  Harlan  was 
chosen.  Mr.  Coolbaugh  was  well  known  throughout  the  State,  and  was 
beginning  to  have  a  national  reputation,  while  Mr.  Harlan  had  never 
held  an  office,  and  was  only  known  to  a  few,  and  by  them  not  tliought 


AVILIJAM    F.   COOLBAUGH.  179 

of  ill  connection  Avith  politics.  Twenty  years  have  reversed  the  order, 
Now,  Mr.  Harlan  is  wholly  given  to  state-craft,  while  Mr.  Coolbaugh's 
name  is  rarely  heard  in  political  circles.  His  reputation  is,  indeed, 
national,  but  many  who  know  him  well,  and  have  for  years,  will  be 
surprised  to  learn  that  he  was  ever  a  politician.  In  Iowa,  however,  his 
political  fame  still  lingers.  During  the  Gubernatorial  campaign  of  1867, 
his  opinion  in  regard  to  the  fitness  of  one  of  the  candidates  for  that  office 
was  widely  circulated,  which  shows  that  he  continues  to  be  retained 
among  the  oracles  in  the  politics  of  the  Hawkeye  State. 

The  political  services  of  Mr.  Coolbaugli  foreshadowed  his  future 
course.  AVhile  he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  on  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee, the  State  Bank  of  Iowa  was  chartered.  To  the  perfection  of  its  plan 
he  gave  his  especial  attention.  Among  the  provisions  of  the  charter  to 
the  parentage  of  Avhich  he  might  justly  lay  claim,  were  those  prohibiting 
the  paying  of  interest  on  deposits,  making  any  loans  on  real  estate  security, 
or  allowing  loans  to  run  longer  than  four  months.  It  v/as  acknowledged 
by  competent  and  disinterested  judges,  that  the  Bank  of  Iowa  had  a  model 
charter.  A  more  successful  bank  never  was  organized.  The  State  had 
good  reason  to  be  proud  of  it,  and  Mr.  Coolbaugli  of  his  connection  with 
it.  While  this  may  be  set  down  as  the  most  deserving  feature  of  his 
political  record,  it  may  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  that  lie  declares  that  the 
part  he  took  in  the  Democratic  National  Convention  held  in  Cincinnati 
in  1856,  and  which  nominated  Buchanan  and  Breckinridge  for  the 
Presidency  and  Vice-Presidency,  was  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  deeply 
deplored  mistakes  of  his  life.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Iowa  delegation 
at  that  time,  and  in  the  following  campaign  he  was  a  vigorous  worker. 

When  the  rebellion  came,  Mr.  Coolbaugli,  in  common  with  thousands 
of  other  Democrats,  at  once  y-ave  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Government 
his  most  hearty  support.  At  the  time  the  order  came  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men,  the  treasury  of  Iowa  was  empty.  The  firm  of  Coolbaugh  & 
Brooks  at  once  telegraphed  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  to  draw  on  them 
for  whatever  money  he  might  need  in  fitting  out  troops  in  compliance 
with  the  requisition  of  the  General  Government.  This  was  only  a  speci- 
men of  the  entire  devotion  to  the  Union  which  marked  Mr.  Coolbaugh's 
course  through  the  war.  Liberal  with  his  money,  he  always  sunk  the 
partisan  in  the  patriot,  and  in  every  possible  way  helped  in  the  suppression 
of  treason. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  he   removed  from  Burlington   to  Chicago. 


180  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Here  he  established  the  banking  house  of  W.  F.  Coolbaugh  ct  Co.  The 
primary  object  of  this  firm  "was  to  represent  the  State  Bank  of  Iowa, 
which  it  did  until  that  institution  ceased  to  have  an  existence. 

In  February,  1865,  this  banking  house  became  the  Union  National 
Bank  of  Chicago,  with  Mr.  Coolbaugh  as  its  President.  To  give  some 
idea  of  the  business  of  which  he  is  at  the  head,  it  may  be  added  that, 
taking  the  eleventh  quarterly  statement  of  the  Union  National  Bank, 
dated  October  7,  1867,  for  a  guide,  it  is  the  most  extensive  banking  house 
in  the  Northwest.  Its  deposits  foot  up  $3,178,042.12;  its  cash  means, 
$1,960,720.62;  its  total  assets,$4,238,223.76. 

On  the  organization  of  the  Chicago  Clearing  House,  Mr.  Coolbaugh 
was  chosen  the  President.  Pie  still  occupies  that  position.  Upon  the 
establishment  of  the  National  Bankers'  Association  for  the  West  and 
Southwest,  he  was,  at  a  convention  held  in  this  city  in  September,  1866, 
chosen  President  of  that  also.  These  positions  sliow^  that  he  is  regarded 
as  having  no  su[)erior,  if  he  has  an  equal,  among  our  bankers. 

Mr.  Coolbaugh  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife,  a  lovely  and 
estimable  woman,  with  Avhom  he  was  united  in  1844,  was  a  daughter  of 
Judge  Brown,  then,  and  for  many  years,  one  of  the  most  eminent  Judges 
of  Kentucky.  By  this  marriage  he  had  seven  children,  only  three  of 
whom  survive.  Four  of  them  sleep  side  by  side  with  their  sainted 
mother,  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  at  Burlington,  low^a.  His  present  wii'c, 
a  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  lady,  whose  personal  charms  are  only 
excelled  by  the  graces  of  her  Christian  character,  to  whom  he  was  married 
in  1864,  is  a  daughter  of  C.  F.  Y.  Reeve,  Esq.,  of  Newburgh,  New 
York.    By  this  union  he  has  one  child — a  daughter  two  years  old 


ELISHA  S.  WADSWORTH. 


I 


Elisha  S.  Wadswoeth  is  one  of  the  very  few  who,  having  aided  in 
developing  the  almost  boundlass  resources  of  the  Garden  City,  are  still 
alive  and  active,  taking  jiresent  j^leasure  in  seeing  the  greatness  which 
their  own  hands  have  Avrought,  and  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  early 
labors.  He  is  still  one  of  us,  and  although  verging  into  the  sere  and 
yellow  leaf,  is  equally  interested,  and  takes  as  much  pride  in  the  march 
of  Chicago's  progress,  as  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  when  the  waste  was 
subdued,  and  the  seeds  of  civilization  planted  by  the  labors  of  himself 
and  his  honored  associates. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  was  born  in  Xew  Hartford,  Connecticut,  May  10,  1813. 
Little  is  known  of  his  early  life,  except  that  it  was  passed  in  steady  appli- 
cation to  business,  under  the  guidance  of  his  father,  Tertius  Wadsworth, 
who  is  now  living,  and  a  resident  of  Hartford.  Mr.  Wadsworth,  senior, 
is  well  known  by  all  our  older  business  men  a.s  one  of  the  first  Eastern 
capitalists  to  make  investments  in  Chicago  in  those  early  days,  when  her 
corner  lots  had  little  but  a  prospective  value.  He  has  ever  been  noted  for 
his  sagacious  foresight  in  business  matters,  and  the  son  has  proved  himself 
worthy  of  his  sire. 

The  Chicago  history  of  Elisha  dates  from  the  spring  of  1836.  His 
brother  Julius,  now  of  New  York  city,  had  rented  a  store  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  where  the  two  brothers  had  decided  on  making  a  venture 
in  the  mercantile  business.  Elisha  was  in  New  York,  purchasing  goods, 
when  he  heard  of  the  wonderful  place  called  Chicago,  and  the  fortunes 
being  made  by  land  speculators  in  the  Western  El  Dorado.  He  took  the 
fever,  and  determined  to  strike  out  for  liimsclf  in  tliat  direction.  lie  sold 
out  his  goods,  sent  word  to  his  brother  that  he  was  westAvard  bound,  and 


182  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

started.  The  infection  took.  Julins  decided  to  follow,  and  together  they 
attended  the  great  laud  sales  of  Chicago,  in  June  of  that  year,  buying 
largely,  and  laying  the  foundations  of  an  independent  fortune. 

The  Wadsworth  brothers  at  once  commenced  business  here,  forming  a 
co-partnership  with  Hon.  Thomas  Dyer,  since  Mayor  of  the  city.  Their 
first  store  was  on  Lake  street,  on  the  lot  next  west  of  that  now  occupied  by 
the  l)ank  of  the  Merchants'  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  in  a  block  of  build- 
ings erected  in  conjunction  with  Hon.  F.  C.  Sherman,  who  was  an  old  friend 
and  fellow  townsman.  This  block  was  at  that  time  the  envy  of  Chicago, 
being  foced  with  what  has  since  been  called  Athens  marble.  There  was 
no  canal  and  no  roads  in  those  days,  and  the  stone  had  to  be  brought  in 
on  sleighs  in  the  winter  season,  over  the  snow.  The  next  stores  built  by 
him  were  erected  in  conjunction  with  his  brother  Julius,  on  South  Water 
street,  between  Clark  and  La  Salle.  These  are  still  standing  and  now 
known  as  Nos.  161,  163,  165  and  167.  These  are  the  oldest  brick  struc- 
tures on  the  street.  They  next  built  a  large  warehouse  opposite,  where 
was  carried  on  the  grain  and  oommission  and  forwarding  business,  the 
firm  being  the  ownei-s  of  several  sail  vessels  and  steamboats,  and  agents 
for  the  forwarding  lines  running  to  their  docks.  They  also  l)uilt  a 
packing  house  on  a  ten-acre  lot,  a  little  south  of  Twelfth  street  bridge, 
afterwards  occupied  by  R.  M.  &  O.  S.  Hough,  and,  subsequently, 
Mr.  AVadswoi-th  erected  the  marble-front  stores  on  the  corner  of  Lake 
street  and  Wabash  avenue,  one  of  the  finest  buildings  now  in  the  city. 

The  partnership  thus  early  formed  and  successftilly  conducted, 
continued  for  a  series  of  years,  till  Julius  lost  his  health  and  was  obliged 
to  give  up  business.  He  withdrew  from  the  firm  and  w'ent  to  Europe. 
His  place  Mas  taken  by  another  widely-known  and  popular  man, 
John  P.  Chapin,  and  the  style  of  the  firm  was  changed  to  that  by  which 
it  became  best  known  in  modern  days — Wadsworth,  Dyer  &  Chapin — 
which  for  many  years  did  the  leading  business  in  the  city,  not  in  one  line 
alone,  but  in  all  the  multifarious  branches  undertaken  by  them.  They 
W'Cre  among  the  first  to  commence  the  wholesale  dry  goods  and  grocery 
trade;  they  undoubtedly  took  the  lead  in  grain,  receiving  and  forwarding 
a  great  per  centage  of  all  the  grain  coming  to  this  market;  they  were 
extensive  beef  and  pork  packers,  and  were  the  pioneers  in  sending 
provisions  from  Chicago  to  the  English  market.  This  firm,  with 
Mr.  Wadsworth  as  its  leading  member,  was  in  reality  the  parent  of  a  large 
number  of  the  leading  business  firms  of  to-day.     Colonel  R.  M.  Hough 


ELISHA   S.   WADSWORTH.  183 

and  Colonel  H.  D.  Booth  oominenced  operations  in  this  city  in  the  einploy 
of  Wadsworth,  Dyer  &  Cha})iu ;  and  ironi  tills  lionse  sprang  also  tlie 
extensive  houses  of  John  V.  Farwell  tt  Co.,  C.  M.  Henderson  &  Co., 
and  Philip  AVadsworth  &  Co.,  in  all  of  which  houses  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  originally  more  or  less  interested. 

Politically,  Mr.  Wadsworth  has  not  achieved  prominence,  simply 
because  he,  all  his  life,  has  trained  in  business  circles,  never  seeking  office, 
and  always  refusing  to  accept  nominations,  which  were  not  unfrequentlv 
tendered  him.  But  as  a  business  man,  he  is  perhaps  more  largely  iden- 
tified with  the  city  of  Chicago  in  its  progressive  increase  than  any  man, 
M'ith  one  or  two  exceptions,  of  all  those  whose  shoulders  have  been  so 
heartily  set  to  the  wheel  of  its  destinies.  He  was  ever  an  active,  untirinir 
advocate  of  all  measures  for  public  improvement,  and  was  equally  ready 
with  his  money,  as  with  his  advice,  showing  his  faith  by  his  works.  He 
was  one  of  those  who  commenced  the  railroad  system  in  the  West,  and 
thus  laid  the  foundations  of  an  enlarged  commercial  prosperity.  He 
w^orked  hard  to  influence  the  expenditure  on  the  Galena  and  Chicago 
Railroad,  and  was  one  of  its  first  Directors.  He  was,  in  like  manner, 
one  of  the  first  to  take  an  interest  in  the  project  to  build  a  railroad 
from  Chicago  to  Milwaukee,  and  was,  for  many  years,  a  Director  of  that 
road.  He  was  one  of  those  who  originated  the  Reform  School  of  the  City 
of  Chicago,  and  has  been  connected  with  it  from  the  beginning.  He  no^^^ 
holds  the  position  of  President  of  that  institution. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  is  still  an  active  man,  though  he  nominally  retired 
from  business  in  1863.  His  time  now  is  chiefly  occupied  in  attending  to 
his  large  real  estate  interests.  Much  of  his  time,  since  he  gave  up 
mercantile  pursuits,  has  been  spent  on  his  extensive  farm,  near  Waukegan, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  stock-raising  on  a  heavy  scale,  and  has  been 
particularly  noted  for  his  success  in  breeding  fine  horses.  His  judgment 
is,  however,  too  much  valued  to  allow  of  his  entirely  ignoring  business. 
His  advice  in  commercial  matters  is  much  sought  after,  and  his  influence 
has  been  felt  in  the  magnificent  enterprise,  now  in  progress,  which  will 
band  the  continent,  and  enable  Chicago  to  grasp  by  the  hand  the  dwellers 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  as  she  now  extends  it  to  those  on  the  cis-Atlantic 
shore. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  was  married  in  August,  1842,  to  Miss  Ciiarlotte  S. 
Woodbridge,  of  Hadley,  ^Massachusetts,  a  daughter  of  Reverend  John 
Woodbridgo,  D.  D.,  who  now  resides  in  this  city  with  his  son,  John 


184  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Woodbridge,  Jr.,  attorney-at-law  and  ISIaster  in  Chancery  of  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Cook  County.  Four  sons  and  one  daughter  have  been  born  to 
him.  Tlie  oldest  son,  Elisha  Lyle  Wadsworth,  was  born  in  May,  1843, 
enlisted  in  the  service  of  his  country  as  a  private  in  the  Chicago  Mer- 
cantile Battery,  was  promoted  to  the  captaincy  of  a  battery,  organized  at 
Columbus,  Kentucky,  served  Avith  his  battery  in  all  the  battles  near 
Vicksburg,  at  Arkansas  Post,  and  elsewhere;  was  then  appointed  on  the 
stiilF  of  INIajor-General  Weitzel,  and  served  in  this  capacity  in  the  battles 
before  Richmond,  entering  that  city  with  Weitzel  when  it  was  captured. 
He  accompanied  Weitzel's  Corps  to  Texas  and  the  Rio  Grande,  contracting 
there  the  disease  known  as  the  "break-bone  fever,"  which  completely 
undermined  his  constitution,  and  obliged  him  to  leave  the  army,  from 
which  he  retired  with  a  most  honorable  record.  He  returned  home  in 
broken  health,  went  to  INIinnesota  in  the  hope  of  recuperating,  and 
died  in  Febrnary,  1867 — another  victim  to  the  infamous  slaveholders' 
rebellion.  He  was  a  fine  young  man,  ever  prompt  and  faithful  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties,  genial  and  generous,  and  Avas  highly  esteemed 
by  all  his  associates. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  is  a  man  in  whom  the  principle  of  self-reliance  is 
conspicuous  as  a  rule  of  action.  He  took  his  own  counsel  when,  in  early 
life,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  has  done  the  same  ever  since,  asking  no 
advice,  and  needing  none.  He  has  always  been  noted  for  the  accuracy 
of  his  judgment,  his  decisions  being  in  all  cases  prompt,  never  reversed, 
and  always  justified  by  the  event.  He  is  a  man  of  clear  head,  quick  eye, 
simple  tastes,  regular  habits,  and  an  imperturbable  equanimity,  Avhich  not 
even  an  earthquake  could  disturb.  He  uses  few  unnecessary  M'ords, 
always  expressing  himself  directly,  and  talking  at  once  to  the  point.  He 
is  a  model  of  integrity.  His  word,  in  Chicago,  was  ever  as  good  as  Jiis 
bond,  and  throuo-li  the  whole  course  of  his  business  life  he  was  never 
known  to  be  unfair.  He  is  one  of  those  whom  to  know  well  is  to  like 
well,  and  who  improve  on  acquaintance. 

Few  men  in  Chicago  have  done  so  much  as  E.  S.  Wadsworth,  and 
especially  few  have  done  much  so  quietly.  His  influence  has  been  of  the 
powerfully  silent  character,  full  of  efficacy,  l^ut  without  display.  He  will 
be  remembered  in  this  city  long  after  thousands  of  flu*  more  pretentious 
men  have  been  forgotten. 


ANDREW   SHUMAN. 


I 


Although  it  may  not  be  generally  known,  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  nearly 
all  the  editors  of  Chicago  daily  papers  are  young  men.  The  gentleman 
whose  name  precedes  this  sketch,  although  a  writer  for  the  press  of  twenty 
years  standing,  eleven  of  which  have  been  in  his  present  position  as  man- 
aging editor  of  the  "  Chicago  Evening  Journal,"  is  still  but  thirty-seven 
years  of  age. 

At  the  time  of  his  birth,  his  parents,  Jacob  and  Margaret  Shuman, 
lived  in  the  town  of  Manor,  near  Lancaster  City,  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania.  The  father  was  a  farmer  in  moderate,  not  to  say  straitened, 
circumstances,  and  died  in  1837,  when  Andrew  was  seven  years  of  age, 
he  having  been  born  on  the  8th  of  November,  1830.  Ui)on  the  death  of 
his  father,  he  was  adopted  by  his  uncle,  ^vho  was  a  retired,  wealthy 
farmer  in  Manor,  and  who  treated  his  ward  with  all  the  consideration  and 
indulgence  that  he  could  be  expected  to  show  his  own  son.  No  more 
satisfactory  evidence  of  this  can  be  asked  than  the  fact  that  Andrew  >\'as 
sent  immediately  to  the  district  school,  and  kept  there,  "  from  year's  end 
to  year's  end,"  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  seven  years  thus 
spent  in  the  district  school  were  of  incalculable  value  to  him.  It  was 
during  these  years  at  the  plain  pine  desk,  in  the  village  school-room,  tiiat 
there  grew  with  his  growth,  and  strengthened  with  liis  strength,  that 
faculty  of  pertinacity  in  industry  which  has  since  secured  him  a  place 
among  the  "leading  men  of  Chicago."  He  made  the  most  of  himself  and 
of  his  time.  He  was  an  industrious  and  patient  pupil,  faithful  to  liis 
books,  and  indefatigable  in  the  use  of  them.  He  early  evinced  a  deter- 
mination to  make  liiinself  respectable  in  literary  pursuits.  As  in  the 
case  of  many  another  boy  who  is  "father  to  the  man"  of  eminence  in 


186  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

usefulness,  he  was  left  to  drift  into  his  life-time  occupation  under  a  vague 
sense  of  preference  for  it,  instead  of  being  enticed  into  it  by  promises 
of  immediate  reward,  or  persuaded  into  it  by  assurances  of  friendly 
co-operation. 

There  are  men  of  mark  in  the  professions  who  were  once  boys,  half  in 
a  dream  and  half  devoted  to  the  service  of  a  grocer  or  a  druggist.  To 
one  of  the  latter,  young  Shuman  hired  himself  out  at  fourteen  years  of 
age,  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  But  this  was  merely  drifting.  The 
experiment  failed.  Clerking  Avas  not  to  his  liking,  nor  Avas  the  apothecary 
trade  to  his  taste.  He  probably  could  have  excelled  in  either,  but  he  was 
satisfied  with  neither.  He  was  dissatisfied  with  both.  His  fingers  itched 
for  the  pen;  his  eyes  caught  fire  at  the  sight  of  a  printing  press.  He 
dreamed  of  journalism.  He  Avould  rather  Avork  harder  and  go  higher. 
A  clerkship  is  a  slow  ship.  She  carries  none  to  fame.  Trade  may  bring 
wealth,  but  not  culture;  social,  but  not  intellectual  distinction.  The 
printing  press  is  at  once  a  synonym  and  a  symbol  of  power.  As  a  lever 
for  men  to  use,  and  to  lift  a  race  of  men  Avith,  it  has  passed  into  a  proverb. 
Some  of  the  foremost  among  our  statesmen  and  literati  have  risen  from,  as 
Avell  as  by  means  of,  the  printing  jjress.  Some  of  those  Avho  at  this 
moment  are  eminent  for  settiu"-  the  distracted  nation  to  rig-hts  Avere  once 
just  as  skillful  in  setting  type.  There  are  printers  in  the  Senate,  on  the 
bench,  and  at  the  bar.  Of  the  influential  journalists,  there  are  few  Avho 
cannot  "set  up"  their  own  "matter,"  and  put  it  in  print  Avith  as  mueli 
skill  as  they  put  it  upon  paper. 

Upon  quitting  the  apothecary  shop,  he  entered  the  office  of  the  "Union 
and  Sentinel,"  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  There  he  Avorked  faithfully 
as  an  apprentice  until,  in  1846,  he  Avent  to  Auburn,  New  York,  Avith  his 
employer,  Avho  took  the  ownership  and  editorship  of  the  "  Daily  AdA'er- 
tiser,"  then  the  home  organ  of  the  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Avho  Avas 
at  that  time  rapidly  rising  to  the  illustrious  eminence  Avhich  he  soon 
afterAA^ards  attained. 

While  endoAved  by  nature  Avith  a  rare  pertinacity  of  purpose,  he  Avas 
no  less  gifted  with  penetration  of  mind.  He  had  the  faculty  of  acquisition. 
He  learned  rapidly  and  thoroughly  Avhatever  he  set  himself  to  acquire. 
He  AA^as  not  long  in  making  himself  master  of  the  art  of  printing,  and 
soon  took  an  innocent  satisfaction  in  competing  Avitli  the  most  rapid  type- 
setters, and  comparing  himself  with  the  most  expert  of  them. 

At  eighteen  years  of  age,  Avhile  yet  in  the  office  of  the  "  Advertiser," 


ANDREW   SHUMAN.  187 

he  undertook  the  conduct  of  a  small  weekly  paper  which  he  called  "The 
Auburnian."  This  he  edited,  "set  up/'  "made  up,"  and  circulated,  Mhile 
performing  his  share  of  the  toil  in  the  publication  of  the  "  Advertiser." 
This  Avas  too  much  for  him,  and  before  the  "Auburnian"  had  lived  a 
year  it  died. 

At  nineteen,  Andrew  became  a  partner  of  Mr.  Thurlow  A\".  IJrowii,  in 
the  publication  of  the  "  Cayuga  Chief,"  at  Auburn.  But  he  Avas  not 
content.  He  had  a  "little  learning."  He  Avanted  more.  He  had  taken 
but  a  tantalizing  sip  at  the  fountain  of  knowledge;  he  thirsted  for  a 
satisfying  draught.     He  resolved  to  go  back  to  his  books. 

To  do  this,  young  Shuman  laid  aside  the  pen  of  the  associate  editor, 
and,  in  1850,  entered  upon  a  course  of  preparation  for  college  in  the 
"Institute,"  at  Clinton,  Xew  York,  and  entered  the  freshman  class  of 
Hamilton  College  in  1851.  Here  he  found  that  whoever  might  be  his 
"  chum,"  poverty  was  to  be  his  most  intimate  companic^i.  He  had  no 
money  with  which  to  pay  his  tuition  fees  l)ut  that  which  he  earned,  and 
earn  it  he  did,  during  the  college  vacations,  in  the  printing-office.  He 
battled  poverty  with  one  hand  and  wooed  knowledge  with  the  other.  He 
studied  hard  and  had  his  reward.  Twice  he  secured  the  first  prize  for 
English  composition,  once  when  he  was  a  freshman,  and  once  when  he 
Avas  a  sophomore.  The  subject  of  the  former  essay  AA^as  "  The  Relations 
of  Elocution  to  Oratory ;"  that  of  the  latter  AA'as,  "  The  Comparative 
AdA'antages  of  the  Pulpit  and  the  Bar  as  a  Field  for  Effective  Oratory." 
These  essays  gave  unmistakable  evidence  of  a  mind  fertile  in  the  resources 
necessary  to  useful  Avriting,  and  of  a  vocabulary  that  insures  an  enter- 
taining style.  The  readiness  Avith  Avhich  he  Avrote  Avas  no  less  noticeable. 
He  AATote  Avith  facility  as  well  as  Avith  felicity,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
knoAviug  that  he  had  now  acquired  tAVO  of  the  most  important  elements 
of  editorial  poAver.  He  Avas,  in  other  respects,  a  student  of  respectable 
standing  in  his  class,  and  became  especially  proficient  in  the  classics  and 
the  natural  sciences. 

He  had  reached  his  junior  year  Avhen  he  AA'as  urged  by  the  political 
friends  of  GoA'^ernor  Seward  to  take  the  editorial  management  of  the 
"Syracuse  (JST.  Y.)  Daily  Journal."  The  call  Avas  gratifying  to  his  ambi- 
tion, as  AA'ell  as  complimentary  to  his  calibre.  He  had  a  strong  desire  to 
complete  his  college  course,  but  here  Avas  a  door  opened  out  of  harassing 
poverty  into  a  comfortable  livelihood  and  honorable  position.  He  was 
doubtful  of  maintaining  himself  in  college  to  finish  the  ibur  years'  course 


188  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

against  such  great  financial  odds,  and  was  therefore  more  tempted  than 
com})elled  to  accept  the  position  tendered  him. 

For  three  years  and  a  half  he  edited,  with  skill  and  zeal,  the  "  Syracuse 
Journal,"  when,  in  1856,  he  was  called  to  the  post  of  assistant  editor  of 
the  "Chicago  Evening  Journal."  In  1861,  Charles  L.  Wilson,  Esq.,  the 
editor  and  proprietor,  having  been  appointed  Secretary  of  Legation  to 
London,  Mr.  Shuman  became  managing  editor  of  the  "  Journal,"  a  position 
which  he  still  holds,  under  Mr.  Wilson,  the  responsible  editor  and  j^ro- 
prietor,  for  which,  as  the  reader  is  now  prepared  to  acknoAvlcdge,  he  is 
admirably  suited  by  nature,  abundantly  qualified  by  experience,  and 
thoroughly  well  furnished  by  education.  He  has  an  equilibrium  of 
tem])cr  which  the  interminable  number  and  inquisitive  disposition  of  his 
visitors  cannot  discompose.  He  greets,  wdth  kindly  forbearance  of  manner, 
presuming  ignorance  and  insipid  affectation.  Nothing  but  downright 
imposition  ruffles  his  marvelously  placid  temperament.  He  has  a  heart 
quickly  touched  by  a  story  of  calamity  or  of  injustice,  and  nothing  gives 
him  so  much  pain  as  to  find  that  in  the  complicacy  and  multiplicity  of  his 
duties  he  has  injured  one  of  his  fellow  beings.  And  he  is  as  swift  to 
repair  an  injury  as  he  is  slow  to  inflict  one.  He  never  declines  the  hand 
of  reconciliation,  and  is  always  the  first  to  extend  it  wdien  he  finds  himself 
in  the  wrong. 

He  is  a  rare  worker  as  well  as  a  skillful  workman.  He  has  no  vote 
for  idleness,  and  no  patience  with  the  thriftless  and  shiftless.  A  narrative 
in  detail  of  the  work  lie  has  done  would  amaze  those  who  sec  him  now  for 
the  first  time,  as  vigorous  and  elastic  in  body  as  he  was  when  in  his  teens. 
As  there  is  nothing  about  a  newspaper  oififice  which  he  cannot  do,  so  there 
is  nothing  about  it  which  he  has  not  done  since  he  came  to  Chicago.  He 
has  been  reporter,  local  editor,  news  editor,  writing  editor,  and  managing 
editor,  by  turns,  on  the  same  day  and  night. 

Few  editorial  writers  have  written  more,  or  more  meritoriously,  than 
Mr.  Shuman.  Besides  the  writing  required  of  him  by  his  position,  he 
has  at  various  times  contributed  to  other  periodicals,  and  has  wautten 
several  dramas  which  have  drawn  full  houses,  without  actor  or  audience 
having  a  suspicion  of  their  authorship.  During  the  great  Northwestern 
Sanitary  Fair,  in  1865,  he  conducted  its  daily  organ,  "The  Voice  of  the 
Fair,"  and  received  a  vote  of  thanks  for  the  tasteful  and  spirited  manner 
with  which  he  edited  this  valuable  little  sheet. 

He  accompanied  Abraham  Lincoln  in  his  famous  joint  debate  with  the 


ANDREW   8HUMAN.  189 

late  Senator  Douglas,  iii  this  State,  in  1858,  writing  up  tlic  arguments  and 
incidents  of  that  memorable  contest  for  the  "Journal,"  and  became  an  inti- 
mate personal,  as  well  as  an  efficient  political,  iViciid  (»!'  the  late  President. 

Mr.  Shuman  handles  a  pen  of  as  much  versatility  as  vigor.  He 
can  touch  the  keys  of  humor,  pathos,  satire  and  sentiment,  with  equal 
eifectiveness.  He  can  write  on  politics,  literature,  commerce,  or  social 
themes  equally  well.  So  that  his  qualities  its  a  writer,  combined  with 
his  qualifications  for  the  manoeuvrement  of  men  and  the  management 
of  business,  render  him  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  managing  editors. 
Those  under  his  direction,  as  well  as  those  associated  with  him  in  control, 
are  always  ready  to  bear  tribute  to  his  honesty  and  urbanity. 

He  is  careful  to  do  unto  others  as  he  would  have  others  do  unto  him. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  his  friends  are  many  and  his  enemies 
few — if  indeed  there  are  any  who  would  own  to  being  his  personal  foes. 

In  public  speaking,  he  has  done  but  little,  a  fact  to  be  attributed  as 
nmch  to  diffidence  as  to  any  other  cause.  With  his  "  large  language,"  as 
the  phrenologists  call  it,  and  quick  wit,  he  could  undoubtedly  have  reached 
excellence  ou  the  stump  or  the  rostrum.  In  1863,  he  made  a  public 
address  before  the  "Union  Club"  of  Chicago,  in  advocacy  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
re-nomination  and  re-election  to  the  Presidency,  which  was  published  by 
request  of  the  meeting.  He  delivered  a  lecture  before  one  of  the  Chicago 
Commercial  Colleges,  in  1858,  on  "Newspaper  Life,"  and  an  address 
before  a  ladies'  seminary,  at  Evanston,  on  "After-College  Life,"  which 
comprise  about  all  he  has  s[)oken  in  public. 

In  1863,  Mr.  Shuman's  friends  in  the  South  District  of  Chicago 
brought  forward  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  the  State  Legislature,  but  the 
"  country  towns  "  made  good  their  claim  to  the  candidate,  and  Mr.  Shuman 
was  defeated,  which  he  did  not  regret,  as  he  had  no  desire  for  a  post  which 
has  been  not  more  satirically  than  sensibly  described  as  one  admirably 
adapted  to  setting  off  the  obscurity  of  its  occupant. 

In  1864,  he  was  appointed,  by  the  Governor  of  Illinois,  one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  State  Penitentiary,  a  suitable  recognition  t)f  his 
reputation  for  ripe  judgment,  good  sense,  and  executive  capacity.  The 
committee  appointed  by  the  late  Legislature  for  the  investigation  of  the 
Penitentiary  affairs  reported  that  they  never  were  more  satisfactorily 
managed.  At  Mr.  Shuman's  suggestion,  and  under  his  direction,  a  bill 
was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  called  the  "  Warden's  IJiil,"  designed  Ibr 
the  improvement  of  the  discipline  and  government  of  the  prison.     This 


190  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

bill  ^yas,  however,  superseded  by  a  more  general  law,  passed  at  the  extra 
session  of  the  Legislature  in  June,  1867,  when  the  Penitentiary  was  placed 
under  State  management,  and  ]Mr.  Shuman  was  re-appointed  Commissioner 
under  the  new  ^lan,  to  hold  his  office  until  1869. 

In  1855,  he  was  married  to  Lucy  B.  Dunlap,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Dunlap,  Esq.,  of  Ovid,  New  York — a  lady  whose  equable  good  nature, 
sweet  patience,  simple  tastes^  and  tasteful  simplicity  have  made  her  a  wife 
and  mother  Avhose  price  is  above  rubies,  a.s  mcU  as  a  woman  of  choice 
value  in  society  and  the  church.  His  residence  is  at  Evanston,  where, 
.with  his  wife  and  daughter  Anna,  aged  eleven  years,  he  enjoys  all  the 
pleasures  of  domestic  retirement  and  a  peaceful,  sunny  home.  And  here 
w^e  leave — for  in  no  other  place  upon  earth  would  he  prefer  to  be  left — 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  heartily  hoping  and  devoutly- 
praying  that  Providence  may  temper  the  storms  of  the  sky  to  the  beautiful 
home  which  is  at  once  a  monument  and  a  reward  of  patient  continuance 
in  Avell-doing,  hard  toiling,  and  sober  living. 


ELLIS  SYLYESTEll  CHESBllOUGH. 


While  the  world  is  filled  with  admiration  over  the  tunnel  undii- 
Lake  Michigan,  we  set  ourself  to  the  task  of  giving  some  account  of  the 
man  who  originated  and  completed  this  renowned  achievement. 

We  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  there  is  some  Plymouth  Eoek  in  his 
composition,  nor  are  we  slow  to  see  that  that  illustrious  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface  was  never  put  to  better  use  than  when  it  was  infused  into 
the  blood  of  this  distinguished  engineer,  since  he  makes  us  believe  by 
what  he  does  rather  than  by  what  he  says.  Deeds,  not  creeds,  have 
been  the  fruit  of  his  life. 

His  ancestors  on  his  father's  side  landed  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts, 
in  1630.  The  two  maternal  streams  of  pedigree  rose  in  Germany  and 
Wales,  and  came  together  in  Pennsylvania.  The  father's  name  was 
Isaac  M.  Chesbrough,  a  native  of  North  Adams,  JNIassachusetts ;  the 
mother's,  before  her  marriage,  Phrania  Jones,  who,  as  well  as  her  son, 
Sylvester,  by  which  name  his  parents  called  him,  was  born  in  the  county 
of  Baltimore,  State  of  Maryland.  Both  of  the  grandfathers  and  the 
father  of  our  subject  were  men  of  steadfast  religious  conviction.  His 
father  was  a  farmer,  and  his  progenitors  were  farmers  for  several 
generations. 

E.  S.  Chrsbrgugh  was  born  on  the  6th  of  July,  1813,  not  long  after 
which  event  the  father  abandoned  the  favorite  occupation  of  his  ancestors 
and  tried  his  hand  at  trade.  For  thirty  years  he  tried  other  branches 
of  business,  at  first  with  indifferent  success. 

It  was  one  of  these  failures  in  business  which  seriously  affected,  by 
abruptly  arresting,  the  schooling  of  Sylvester,  when  he  was  only  nine 
years  of  age.     The  father  had  planned  broadly  and  devised  liberally  for 


192  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  son's  education,  of  Avhich  he  knew  the  worth  and  appreciated  the 
consequence.  But  his  plans  were  thwarted  and  his  resolution  broken  by 
the  loss  of  the  means  with  which  he  expected  to  carry  them  out.  And 
the  boy  was  turned  from  books  to  toil,  thus  early  in  life. 

He  was  a  boy  of  quick  understanding  and  always  well  up  in  his  class. 
But  Avhat  he  learned  was  sifted  in  among  laborious  duties.  Bread  was 
put  in  the  balance  against  books,  duties  against  studies,  and,  finally,  the 
school-room  was  exchanged  for  the  counting-room.  "What  the  boy  learned 
afterward,  he  acquired  without  a  regular  teacher.  But  learn  he  did,  con- 
stantly and  increasingly. 

Fi-om  nine  to  fifteen  years  of  age  his  duties  were  for  the  most  part 
arduous  and  confining.  During  this  time  he  wont  to  school  but  about  one 
year.  His  parents  needed  his  earnings  as  nnich  as  he  needed  his  schooling. 
He  spent  some  time  in  the  service  of  two  mercantile  houses  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore. 

He  was  now  fifteen,  and  his  feet  touched  the  path  that  was  to  lead 
him  up  to  lame.  "Nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet."  The  father 
became  one  of  a  company  of  engineers  employed  by  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad  Company,  and  through  his  influence  the  son  was  admitted 
to  a  similar  comjiany,  who  we  2  making  surveys  in  and  about  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  in  May,  1828,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Joshua 
Barney.  Most  of  the  engineers  employed  by  this  railroad  company  were 
officers  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  graduates  of  West  P(Mnt,  Here 
lie  Avent  to  school  ugain,  and  a  grand  school  it  was  for  him.  The  trained 
enguicers  of  the  company  saw  in  the  youth  an  appetite  for  knowledge 
which  they  were  pleased  to  gratify,  and  a  disposition  to  master  their 
science,  to  which  they  willingly  gave  every  facility  and  advantage  necessary 
for  success.  The  boy  saw  his  opportunity  and  greeted  it  as  the  dawn  of  a 
new  day  to  him.  And  so  it  was.  It  ojDcned  up  a  great  and  inviting 
field  for  him.     It  lifted   his  vision.     It  gave  an  aim  to  his  life. 

Every  opportunity  for  the  study  and  practice  of  his  now  beloved 
profession  was  afforded  him.  He  kept  his  eyes  and  ears  open,  and  his 
mind  on  the  alert.  Such  was  his  application  to  both  the  theory  and 
practice  of  his  vocation,  that  his  progress  was  noticeable  and  his  pro- 
ficiency a  topic  of  commendatory  remark. 

In  1830,  he  left  the  service  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
Company  and  entered  that  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  survey 
for  the  then  projected  Allegheny  Portage  Railroad,  under  his  former  chief, 


ELLIS    SYLVESTER    CHESBROIGH.  193 

Colonel  S.  H.  Long,  to  whom  he  was  much  indebted  for  instruction  and 
promotion. 

In  1831,  he  joined  the  engineer  corps  of  Captain,  afterwards  General, 
AVilliani  Gibbs  McNeill,  at  Paterson,  New  Jersey.  In  it  he  remained 
for  eleven  years,  during  which  time  he  was  employed  in  the  duties  of  his 
avocation  on  the  Paterson  and  Hudson  Ri\er,  the  Boston  and  Providence, 
the  Taunton  Branch,  and  the  Louisville,  Charleston  and  Cincinnati 
Railroads.  During  the  early  portion  of  these  eleven  years  he  was  imme- 
diately under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  George  W.  AVhistler,  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  and  able  engineers  in  the  United  States,  who  afterwards 
entered  the  service  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  as  consulting  engineer,  and 
died  at  St.  Petersburg, 

Mr.  Chesbrough  was  married  in  1837  to  INIiss  Elizabeth  A.  Freycr,  of 
Baltimore,  Maryland. 

For  two  yeai*s,  ending  in  1842,  he  superintended  the  construction  of 
the  Louisville,  Cincinnati  and  Charleston  Railroad,  until  it  was  completed 
to  Columbia,  South  Carolina;  after  which  he  went  to  Providence,  Rhode 
Ishuid,  where  his  father  then  resided.  Here  he  spent  the  autumn  and 
winter  in  the  workshops  of  the  Stonington  Railroad  Company,  learning 
the  use  of  tools. 

Public  improvements  Avere  still  suifering  the  stagnation  produced  by 
the  great  financial  crash  of  1837.  Workshops  had  gradually  relapsed 
from  the  liveliest  commotion  into  intermittent  activity  or  utter  silence. 
Thousands  of  artisans  had  been  thrown  out  of  employment.  Skillful 
engineers  had  been  forced  to  turn  their  steps  away  from  their  favorite 
pursuit,  in  search  of  other  means  of  subsistence.  Among  these  was 
Mr.  Chesbrough,  who  purchased  a  fixrm  adjoining  that  of  his  father,  in 
Niagara  County,  New  York,  and  became  a  tiller  of  the  soil.  But  in  this 
he  failed.  Notwithstanding  the  industry  and  economy  which  were  now  a 
second  nature,  the  end  of  the  year  made  a  discouraging  exhibit  for  the 
engineer-farmer — showing  that  Avhile  a  good  engineer  may  be  made  out  of 
a  farmer,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  make  a  good  farmer  out  of  an  engineer. 
Thanks  to  this  fact.  What  was  loss  to  agriculture  was  gain  to  engineer- 
ing, for,  in  1844,  Mr.  Chesbrough  cheerfully  laid  aside  the  hoe  and  plough, 
and  as  clieerfully  resumed  tlie  level  and  transit.  The  industrial  interests 
of  the  country  were  now  entering  a  new  era  of  prosperity,  and  j)ublic 
improvements  received  a  new  impetus. 

For  the  next  two  years  Mr.  Chesbrough  labored  in  the  path  of  his 


194  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

profession,  mostly  in  Massachusetts,  when,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Water 
Commissioners  of  Boston,  he  became  their  engineer  and  superintended  the 
location  and  construction,  and  planned  the  structures  along  the  line  of 
the  Cochituate  aqueduct.  Upon  its  completion  he  Mas  elected  Water 
Commissioner,  and  then  City  Engineer,  by  the  City  Council  of  Boston, 
being  the  first  occupant  of  the  latter  office. 

In  August,  1855,  he  received  the  appointment  of  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Board  of  Sewerage  Commissioners  of  Chicago,  which  appointment  was 
approved  by  the  Common  Council,  during  the  administration  of  the 
Hon.  L.  D.  Boone. 

In  October,  Mr  Chesbrough,  having  closed  up  his  duties  in  Boston, 
^et  about  devising  a  system  of  sewerage  for  this  city.  The  task  was  an 
exceedingly  difficult  one,  but  in  December  he  presented  a  jjlan  which  was 
adopted  by  the  Commissioners  and  recommended  to  the  City  Council. 
After  much  discussion,  and  considerable  opposition,  the  action  of  tlie 
Commissioners  was  approved  by  the  City  Council,  and  the  carrying  out  of 
the  plan  vigorously  commenced  in  1856.  In  December  of  this  year, 
i\Ir.  Chesbrough  was  sent  by  the  Commissioners  to  Europe  to  obtain 
information  relative  to  the  drainage  of  cities.  The  results  of  his  examina- 
tions were  published  by  the  Board,  and  have  been  considered  a  text-book 
on  the  subject  ever  since,  throughout  our  country. 

In  1861,  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  just  then  established,  chose 
Mr.  Chesbrough  their  Chief  Engineer.  Two  years  later  his  title  was 
changed  to  City  Engineer. 

We  come  now  to  the  great  achievement  of  his  life,  the  putting  into  the 
houses  of  this  city  the  delicious  water  that  bubbles  up  from  the  springs 
at  the  bottom  of  the  Lake.  The  history  and  the  consequences  of  this 
masterpiece  of  engineering  the  reader  knows  by  heart,  and  if  he  be  a 
citizen  of  Chicago  he  will  rejoice  at  the  stomach  as  Avell  as  at  the  heart, 
upon  the  recollection  of  this  stupendous  stride  of  sanitary  enterprise. 
When  Mr.  Chesbrough  reported  the  feasibility  of  the  tunnel,  the  Board 
of  Public  Works,  as  well  as  public  sentiment,  were  full  of  doubts  and 
misgivings.  The  conservatives  of  science  were  incredulous ;  the  conserva- 
tives of  finance  raised  a  sullen  growl,  and  railed  about  the  taxes  in  the 
satiric  squibs  of  Sidney  Smith,  while  even  the  public-spirited  and 
progressive  were  jocose  at  the  expense  of  the  "unprecedented  bore."  But 
the  City  Engineer  had  too  firm  a  hold  on  public  confidence,  and  too 
secure  a  place  in  the  confidence  of  scientific  circles,  to  be  shaken  from 


ELLIS   SYLVESTER   CIIESBROUGII.  105 

his  position  by  a  tax-payer's  growl  or  a  nows[)apor  jest.  He  silenced 
both  by  the  success  of  his  undertaking.  That  success  has  made  him 
famous. 

Mr.  Chcsbrough  is  as  agreeable  in  private  as  he  is  useful  in  public  life. 
Ho  remembered  his  Creator  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  and  has  ever  since 
honored  the  profession  he  made  of  the  religion  that  he  embraced,  and  is 
now  a  valuable  and  esteemed  member  of  the  New  England  Congregational 
Cluirch  of  this  city.  He  carries  his  honors  modestly,  and  deports  himself 
as  all  persons  of  good  breeding  and  good  sense  do.  His  years  are  not  yet 
so  numerous  as  to  preclude  the  hope  of  his  getting  still  higher  on  the 
ladder  of  distinction,  while  the  vigor  of  his  body  and  the  ingenuity  of  his 
mind  warrant  us  in  anticipating  an  increase  of  the  laurels  which  are  no 
more  his  than  his  country's. 


\ 


WALTER   WEBB   ALLrORT. 


Walter  Webb  Allport,  son  of  John  and  Eve  Allport,  was  l)orn 
in  the  town  of  Ijorain,  Jefferson  Connty,  New  York,  June  10, 1824,  His 
father  was  of  English  descent,  and  his  mother's  family  were  from  Holland. 
When  Walter  was  about  ten  years  old,  his  father,  who  was  a  small  farmer, 
removed  with  his  family  to  Scriba,  Oswego  County,  New  York,  where  the 
son  worked  on  the  farm  in  summer,  and  hauled  wood  to  Oswego  in 
winter,  a  distance  of  four  miles.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  in  consequence 
of  his  father  losing  what  little  property  he  had,  he  was  thrown  upon  his 
own  resources.  With  his  mother's  blessing,  two  silver  half  dollars  in  his 
pocket,  and  a  small  allowance  of  clothing,  he  departed  from  home,  and 
traveled  on  foot  forty  miles  to  the  town  of  Rodman,  where  he  found 
employment  with  a  farmer  named  Loomis.  After  a  few  months  he  left 
til  is  situation,  and  went  to  Watertown  to  learn  a  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  two  years  for  his  board  and  clothing.  At  tiic  expiration  of  this 
time  he  engaged  as  a  journeyman,  alternately  working  and  attending 
school. 

He  had  acquired,  in  early  childhood,  the  rudiments  of  an  education, 
being  taught  both  at  home  and  in  the  district  school.  But  on  leaving  the 
parental  roof,  he  was  compelled  to  become,  to  a  great  extent,  his  own 
teacher.  These  untoward  circumstances,  however,  only  stimulated  his 
desire  for  improvement;  and  his  whole  subsequent  career  in  lilc  justly 
entitles  him  to  a  place  among  that  large  and  influential  class,  more  luuner- 
ous,  perhai)s,  in  our  country  than  any  other,  who,  rising  by  their  own 
exertions,  have  won  the  distinctions  of  self-taught  and  self-made  men. 

In  1844,  he  entered  the  office  of  Professor  Amasa  Trowbridge,  as  a 
student  of  medicine,  where    he    remained  about   two  years.      In    184G, 


198  BIOGRAPJIICAL   SKETCHES. 

he  commenced  the  study  of  dentistry  with  Drs.  Dnnning  and  Robinson; 
but  the  firm  being  shortly  afterwards  dissolved,  he  entered  into  business 
Avitli  the  senior  jiartner.  On  the  24th  of  December,  1847,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Sarali  Maria  Haddock,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Haddock,  Esq.,  of  Watertown,  New  York.  The  next  year  he  removed  to 
Rome,  New  York,  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  dentistry  with 
Dr.  D.  W.  Perkins,  under  the  firm  name  of  Perkins  &  Allj)ort.  After 
this  he  removed  to  Pulaski,  New  York,  Avhere  he  remained  four  years, 
practicing  his  profession.  In  the  winter  of  1853,  he  attended  a  course 
of  lectures,  and  graduated  as  a  Doctor  of  Dental  Surgery,  at  tlie  New 
York  Dental  College. 

Having  frequently  been  told  by  prominent  members  of  the  dental 
profession  that  his  superior  business  talent  and  professional  qualifications 
would  render  his  success  almost  certain  in  a  large  city,  he  visited  Chicago 
in  the  spring  of  1854,  with  a  view  of  making  it  his  future  home.  Becom- 
ing fully  satisfied  with  the  prospects,  after  a  few  days'  inspection,  he 
returned  home,  settled  up  his  business,  and  made  all  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  a  removal.  On  the  24th  of  September,  1854,  he  registered  his 
name  at  the  Tremont  House,  and  has  resided  in  this  city  ever  since. 
Bringing  with  him  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  cash,  and  having 
a  Avife  and  two  children  to  supi)ort,  he  felt  tliat  lie  liad  neither  time  nor 
money  to  lose.  He  accordingly  availed  himself  of  the  offer  of  an  estab- 
lished dentist  in  the  city,  to  go  into  his  office  for  a  few  weeks,  while  the 
latter  went  East  on  his  wed<ling  tour.  On  his  return  he  offered 
Dr.  Allport  an  opportunity  to  go  into  partnership  with  him,  but  the  terms 
not  being  satisfactory  the  proposal  was  declined.  At  this  time  offices  were 
scarce  in  the  city,  and  the  best  he  could  do  was  to  occupy  an  office  jointly 
with  a  physician,  over  the  store  of  J.  H.  Reed  &  Co.,  144  Lake  Street. 
It  consisted  of  a  front  and  back  room,  the  latter  being  badly  lighted. 
This  state  of  things,  which  at  first  sight  looked  forbidding,  proved  in  the 
end  advantageous;  for  it  enabled  him  to  commence  business  on  the  most 
economical  scale,  and  without  drawing  too  heavily  on  his  limited  resources. 
Constructing  a  small  operating  room,  just  seven  feet  by  eight,  in  one 
corner  of  the  front  room,  by  means  of  a  wooden  frame  covered  with  cotton 
cloth  and  paper;  extemporizing  a  rude  table  for  his  instruments,  by  nail- 
ing up  a  basswood  board  in  a  corner  of  this  little  room,  and  covering  it 
with  a  copy  of  the  old  "  Chicago  Tribune ;"  and  then  renting  a  barber's 
chair  by  the  mouth,  to  serve  as  an  operating  chair  for  his  patients,  he 


WALTER   AVEBB   ALLPORT.  199 

coiiimenced  bu.siness.  His  first  month's  work  amounted  to  twenty  dollars 
and  fifty  cents;  the  second  to  thirty-nine  dollars. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1855,  he  changed  his  office  and  residence  to 
75  Chirk  street,  where  his  business  was  quite  small  for  the  first  year, 
barely  paying  expenses.  By  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  character  of 
his  operations  becoming  more  generally  known,  his  practice  nearly  doubled, 
and  in  June,  1857,  he  again  changed  his  office  and  residence  to  32  Wash- 
ington street,  where  he  has  continued  his  business  to  the  present  time. 
Just  before  Dr.  Allport  came  to  Chicago,  a  preparation  of  gold,  known  as 
crystal  gold,  began  to  be  used  by  dentists  for  the  purpose  of  filling  teeth, 
in  the  use  of  which  he  had  early  acquired  unusual  skill.  To  this  atten- 
tion was  cidled,  at  the  meeting  of  tlie  American  Dental  Convention,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  1856,  by  Dr.  John  S.  Clark,  an  eminent  dentist  of 
New  Orleans. 

The  following  extract  from  the  published  report  of  the  discussions  on 
that  occasion  will  serve  to  show  the  liglit  in  which  the  matter  was  viewed: 
"  Dr.  Clark  related  an  achievement  of  Dr.  Allport,  of  Chicago,  in  restoring 
the  exterior  and  cutting  edge  of  teeth,  which  to  him  was  more  gratifying 
to  look  upon  than  the  productions  of  a  Raphael.  The  front  incisors  were 
separated,  as  if  a  file  had  been  passed  between  them,  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
thick,  nearly  down  to  the  gum.  These  teeth  had  been  built  up  and 
restored  to  their  original  shape;  their  approximate  edges  almost  touched, 
and  they  were  perfectly  adapted  to  mastication.  They  had  been  used 
nineteen  months."  Drs.  Brown  and  Perkins,  of  New  York,  Hunter, 
of  Cincinnati,  and  others  in  the  profession  spoke  in  equally  favorable 
terms  of  his  work. 

These  and  similar  testimonials  to  his  skill,  demonstrating  his  superior 
ability  as  a  dentist,  soon  secured  for  liim  an  envial)le  reputation,  both  at 
home  and  abroad;  and  a  large  practice  soon  followed,  perhaps  larger  than 
that  of  any  other  dentist  west  of  the  city  of  New  York.  There  are  few 
dentists  in  America  who  stand  higher,  or  are  better  known,  either  in 
this  country  or  in  Euro])c,  as  ])ractitioners,  than  Dr.  Allport,  of  Chicago. 
Experienced  dentists  have  said  that  for  practical  insight  into  what  is 
necessary  to  be  done,  fi)r  the  rajudity  of  his  operations,  and  the  durability 
and  tasteful  execution  of  his  work,  they  have  never  known  his  superior. 
It  will  be  doing  no  injustice  to  others  to  say  that  by  the  example  of  his 
practice  Dr.  Allport  has  contributed  more  than  any  other  man  in  the 
Northwest  to  elevate  the  standartl  and  improve  the  practice  of  dentistry. 


200  BIOGJRAPHICAL   SKET(;HES. 

In  1856,  he  was  elected  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American 
Dental  Convention.  In  1858,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Western 
Dental  Society.  The  same  year  he  was  invited  to  read  an  essay  on  the 
"Diseases  of  the  Teeth,"  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  which  was 
published  by  request.  In  1859,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  deliver  tlie 
valedictory  address  to  the  graduating  class  of  the  Ohio  College  of 
Dentistry,  which  was  also  published,  and  is  a  production  containing  much 
sound  practical  wisdom.  In  1860,  he  was  elected  the  first  Chairman  of 
the  American  Dental  Association,  and  in  1865,  President  of  the  American 
Dental  Convention.  In  January,  1863,  in  connection  with  the  late 
S.  T.  Creighton,  he  commenced  editing  and  publishing  the  "People's 
Dental  Journal,"  a  quarterly  periodical,  which  was  sustained  for  two  years. 
This  Avork  was  regarded  with  much  favor  both  by  the  people  and  the 
profession. 

When  the  American  Dental  Association  met  in  Chicago  in  1865,  as 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  he  prepared  and  delivered  the 
address  of  welcome  to  the  Association,  which,  from  its  felicitous  patriotic 
allusions  and  exceeding  aptness  to  the  occasion,  was  received  with  great 
applause.  In  1866,  he  was  appointed  Clinical  Lecturer,  both  in  tlie  Ohio 
Dental  College  and  the  New  York  College  of  Dentistry.  In  1867,  he 
acc^epted  an  invitation  from  the  Faculty  of  the  New  York  College  of 
Dentistry  to  deliver  tlie  valedictory  address  to  the  graduating  class  of  tliat 
institution,  whicli  service  he  performed  on  the  6th  of  March.  This 
address,  delivered  at  Steinway  Hall,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  and 
delighted  audience,  was  referred  to  in  terms  of  high  commendation  by 
distinguished  gentlemen  present,  and  was  pronounced  by  the  New  York 
daily  papers  to  be  at  once  practical,  judicious  and  eloquent. 

From  the  incidents  already  named,  it  is  easy  to  see  what  are  the 
elements  that  have  combined  to  give  Dr.  Allport  his  present  eminent 
position  in  his  profession.  His  whole  early  training  Avas  well  adapted  to 
develop  energy,  perseverance,  industry,  sagacity,  self-reliance,  indepen- 
dence, and  all  those  sterling  traits  of  character  which  inspire  confidence 
and  win  respect  by  laying  a  broad  basis  of  strong  practical  common  sense. 
Possessing  this  capital,  to  begin  with,  by  careful  preliminary  study, 
folloAved  up  by  years  of  patient  and  observant  practice  in  all  the  minute 
details  of  the  dental  art,  he  has  made  himself,  as  a  practitioner,  master 
of  his  profession.  Naturally  of  a  refined  taste  and  sound  practical 
judgment,  coupled   Avitli    an    extraordinary  mechanical  genius,  he   has 


WALTER    WEI'.n    ALLl'OUT.  201 

brouij^ht  these  faculties  to  bear  upon  the  most  difficult  problems  of  the 
dental  art — seciiriiii;-  a  de«^*ree  of  rapidity,  precision  and  perfection  in 
his  operations,  iis  well  as  durability  in  his  work,  whieh  has  never 
been  surpassed. 

Thus  furnished  and  prepared,  he  had  the  sagacity  to  select  Chicago  as 
the  field  best  adapted  for  his  labors.  He  could  not  have  arrived  here  at  a 
more  api)n»priate  time.  Of  the  thousands  who,  like  himself,  reached  our 
city  at  tile  same  time,  no  one  was,  perhaps,  better  fitted  to  throw  himself 
boldly  into  its  yoinig  and  vigorous  life-current,  and  be  borne  along  on 
the  rising  Mave  of  its  good  fortune.  It  is  no  wonder  that  we  are  com- 
pelled to  select  him  as  one  of  Chicago's  representative  men — growing  with 
the  growth  and  strengthening  with  the  strength  of  the  city.  He  has 
encountered  opposition  in  various  ways  and  from  various  quarters. 
Nevertheless,  he  has  steadily  practiced  his  profession  here  for  thirteen 
years,  gaining  the  increasing  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  a  reputation  that  has  grown  to  be  national  and  does  honor  to  the  city 
abroad.  Prompt  to  every  call  of  duty,  always  at  work,  and  yet  ever 
ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  whatever  conduces  to  the  intellectual, 
moral  and  religious  improvement  of  the  public;  unyielding  in  his  con- 
victions, yet  polite,  afiable  and  gentlemanly  in  his  bearing  to  all ;  a  man 
of  fresh,  genial,  and  even  jovial  spirit;  never  hurried  or  worried  about 
anything,  but  always  at  ease  and  working  from  perfect  system;  neat  and 
tasteful  almost  to  a  proverb  in  dress  and  office  arrangements;  liberal, 
generous,  patriotic  and  public  spirited  in  his  sentiments;  the  friend  of 
education,  of  art  and  of  religion ;  it  is  manifest  that,  even  aside  from  his 
thorough  professional  skill  and  his  great  administrative  and  business 
capacity.  Dr.  Allport  possesses  in  rare  combination  all  the  attributes  and 
qualifications  that  go  to  constitute  the  accomplished,  popular  and  * 
successful  dentist.  Hitherto  his  career  hits  been  one  of  diversified  labors 
and  responsibilities,  but  he  has  met  them  all  with  marked  ability;  and  he 
has  attempted  nothing  in  which  he  has  not  succeeded  and  excelled. 


I 


ANTHONY  C.  HESING. 


The  Grand  Duchy  of  Oldenburg  sustains  much  the  same  relations  to 
Germany  that  Illinois  does  to  the  United  States.  The  country  is  one  vast 
and  fertile  plain,  producing  all  kinds  of  grain  in  rich  abundance,  and 
furnishing  pasturage  for  countless  herds  of  cattle.  It  was  in  Veclita,  a 
small  village  in  this  Duchy,  that  the  Hon.  Anthony  C.  Hesing,  editor 
of  the  "  Illinois  Staats  Zeitung,"  was  born,  of  honorable,  but  not  illustrious, 
parentage.  TJiere  is  fitness  and  suggestiveness  in  the  fact  that  the  leading 
German  journalist  of  the  West  should  hail  from  what  might  with 
propriety  be  called  the  Prairie  State  of  Europe. 

Mr.  Hesing  was  born  on  the  6th  of  January,  1823.  His  father  was  a 
brewer  and  distiller.  The  advantages  for  education  which  he  gave  his 
son  were  only  those  commonly  enjoyed  by  the  youth  of  that  vicinity. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  the  lad  left  the  school-room  to  join  the 
innumerable  company  of  workers,  and  with  no  thought  of  wealth  or  fame. 
He  was  apprenticed  to  a  baker  and  brewer.  It  was  expected  that  he 
would  remain  with  his  employer  for  years,  but  it  Avas  not  long  before  a 
change  came  over  the  spirit  of  his  dream.  His  master  proved  arrogant 
and  unjust  in  his  treatment,  and  after  enduring  his  abuse  for  about  two 
years,  young  Hesing  resolved  to  break  the  chain  that  galled  him.  In  com- 
mon with  thousands  of  Germans,  his  longing  eyes  were  turned  toward 
America  as  the  Eldorado  of  real  life,  the  ultima  thule  of  terrestrial  hope. 
Reaching  our  shores,  he  at  once  directed  his  steps  toward  Cincinnati.  At 
that  time  Chicago  was  far  behind  the  "Queen  City  of  the  West,"  and  was 
hardly  known  beyond  the  ocean.  It  was  supposed  that  beside  tlio  Ohio 
River,  and  not  at  the  head  of  the  Lakes,  was  to  be  the  metropolis  of 


204  lUOGRAPHICAI.    SKETCHES. 

the  interior.  Tlie  .same  inetropolitan  in.stinct  wliieli  years  later  drew 
Mr.  Hesing  to  Chicago,  attracted  him,  in  1839,  to  Cincinnati. 

Mr.  Hesing  began  life  in  America  as  clerk  in  a  grocery  store.  It  was 
not  long,  hoAvever,  before  the  whole  burden  of  the  business  rested  upon 
his  shoulders.  While  in  his  teens,  he  was  "a  man  among  men;"  maturity 
of  appearance  and  dejjortment  enabled  him  to  pass  unchallenged  for 
several  years  older  than  he  actually  was.  He  carried  on  his  business 
successfully  in  all  resjiects,  and  became  identified,  not  only  with  the 
business  portion  of  community,  but  in  political  circles.  In  the  Harrison 
campaign,  he  joined  the  Whig  party.  Although  lie  w^as  not  a  citizen  at 
that  time,  he  rendered  tlie  party  valuable  service  by  his  ardent  advocacy 
of  tlie  AVhig  ])rinciples  and  nominees.  In  recognition  of  his  services 
he  was,  in  1842,  made  a  member  of  the  Whig  Committee  of  Hamilton 
County,  he  still  being  a  voter  only  in  prospedu.  lu  the  Scott  campaign 
of  1852,  we  find  him  a  member  of  tlie  State  Executive  Committee. 

In  1847,  Mr.  Hesing  returned  to  his  childhood's  home,  after  an  absence 
of  eight  years.  His  visit  was  brief  and  unimportant,  except  from  the 
fact  that  it  occasioned  his  acquaintance  with  Miss  Louisa  Lamping,  who 
afterwards  became  his  wife,  accompanying  him  on  his  return  to  this 
countiy. 

After  a  sojourn  of  several  months  in  Baltimore,  Mr.  Hesing  took  his 
bride  to  Cincinnati.  The  grocery  of  his  earlier  days  he  sold,  and  with 
the  jiroceeds  built  a  hotel  on  tlie  corner  of  Race  and  Court  streets,  of 
which  he  became  the  landlord,  in  com])any  with  a  Mr.  Edward  Pretorious. 
He  continued  in  this  business  until  1854,  when,  his  partner  committing 
suicide,  he  disposed  of  his  iiitcrest  in  the  concern  and  left  the  State,  no 
more  to  return,  except  occasionally. 

He  at  once  came  to  Chicago,  and,  discerning  in  its  marvelous  growth 
and  matchless  opportunities  the  promise  of  metropolitan  supremacy  in  the 
near  future,  he  purchased  a  patent  brick  dry  clay  machine,  and  opened  a 
brick-yard  at  Jefferson,  only  a  few  miles  from  the  heart  of  the  city.  This 
proved  an  unprofitable  experiment.  There  was  an  excellent  market  for 
the  brick,  but  the  clay  turned  out  to  be  unfit  for  the  use  of  the  kiln. 
Mr.  Hesing  received  only  al^out  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the 
labor  of  the  entire  season.  We  next  find  him  associated  with  Charles  S. 
Dole,  Esq.,  in  the  same  business,  but  in  another  locality.  In  this  second 
trial  Highland  Park,  now  Clinton  Park,  near  the  Lake  shore,  w^as  chosen. 
Here  good  clay  was  found.     The  Adams  House,  the  Milwaukee  Railroad 


ANTHONY    C.    I  IKS  INC.  205 

Round  House,  many  private  residences,  and  S(!vcral  miles  of  sewer  were 
constructed  from  the  Hesing-Dole  brick.  The  business  proved  profitable 
until  the  catastrophe  of  1857  came  on  and  put  a  stop,  for  a  time,  to  nearly 
all  improvements  and  building.  Tiie  firm  was  then  obliged  to  discontinue 
its  operations. 

In  common  with  so  many  others  in  this  vicinity,  and,  indeed, 
throughout  the  country,  Mr.  Hesing  was  by  this  disaster  reduced  to  penury. 
Although  only  a  short  distance  from  Chicago,  he  was  without  money 
enough  to  pay  his  fare  to  the  city!  Nothing  daunted,  however,  by  the 
buffetings  of  poverty,  he  determined  to  come  here  and  att(!nipt  to  retrieve 
his  lost  fortune.  His  first  attempt  at  recuperation  was  as  a  commission 
merchant.  He  hired  a  small  store  on  Kinzie  street.  North  Side,  and 
commenced  business,  having  the  assistance  of  Charles  S.  Dole  &  Co.  In 
the  following  spring  he  gave  uj)  his  store,  and  accepted  the  unambitious 
office  of  collector  of  Avater-toll  on  the  North  Side,  for  which  position  he 
was  indebted  to  the  friendly  firm  just  named.  He  received  for  his 
services  forty-five  dollars  per  mouth. 

Mr.  John  Gray  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Cook  County  in  the  succeeding 
spring,  and  Mr.  Hesing  was  appointed  his  deputy.  He  remained  in  this 
office  until  1860,  Avhen,  in  recognition  of  his  faithful  services,  the  Repub- 
lican party  nominated  and  elected  him  Sheriff.  This  proved  the  turning 
point  in  his  fortune.  After  serving  the  county  faithfully  two  years, 
Mr.  Hesing  became  partner  in  the  "Illinois  Staats  Zeitung,"  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present  he  has  devoted  himself  with  single  and  tireless 
energy  to  journalism.  He  is  at  present  sole  proprietor  and  editor  of  the 
"Zeitung."  As  the  editor  of  the  leading  German  daily  in  the  Northwest, 
he  has  gained  an  influence  in  local  and  State  politics  second  to  that  of  no 
other  member  of  the  Republican  party  of  Illinois.  Having  a  clear  and 
powerful  and  patriotic  purpose,  and  being  careful  witlial  to  reflect  as  well 
as  guide  the  public  sentiment  of  his  countrymen,  our  politicians  have 
learned  to  res])ect  his  opinions  and  heed  his  suggestions. 

Throughout  the  war  Mr.  Hesing  was  an  ardent  supi)orter  of  the 
distinctive  measures  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration,  and  when  the  work 
of  reconstruction  commenced,  he  was  found  upon  the  radical  side  of  the 
question,  and  in  the  Congressional  campaign  of  18GG  he  contributed 
largely  to  the  great  Republican  victory  in  which  it  culminated. 

Since  entering  upon  journalism,  Mr.  Hesing  has  held  no  political 
office.     Like  James  Gordon  Bennett,  Horace  Greeley,  Tliurlow  Weetl  ;ind 


206  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

other  great  American  journalists,  he  believes  it  more  honorable  to  give 
tone  and  tendency  to  public  sentiment  through  the  press,  than  to  go 
through  the  routine  of  official  duties.  Taking  a  deep  and  abiding  interest 
in  all  the  minutwe  of  politics,  he  never  derives  any  personal  benefits  from 
it.  It  would  be  well  for  the  country  if  its  politics  were  controlled  by 
such  unselfish  politicians. 


EDWARD  ELY. 


Of  the  many  thousands  wlio  have  sought  out  Chicago  as  the  place  in 
which  to  employ  their  energies,  unknown  to  fame,  unpreceded  by  friends 
who  could  give  a  helping  liand,  with  little  except  a  stout  heart,  clear 
intellect  and  resolute  will  to  serve  as  monitor  and  guide,  there  are  few  at 
the  present  time  occupying  a  more  conspicuous  position  in  their  chosen 
sphere  of  action  than  Edwaed  Ely.  Arriving  in  Chicago  some  fifteen 
years  since,  with  no  other  immediate  prospect  than  that  of  being  able  to 
earn  for  himself  a  decent  maintenance,  he  soon  took  his  place  side  by  side 
with  those  from  whom  he  had  at  first  solicited  employment.  He  is  now 
known  all  over  the  Northwest  as  tlie  proprietor  of  an  establishment  which 
is  pre-eminently  the  fashionable  clothing-mart  of  the  city,  and  competes 
with  New  York  in  leading  the  fashions  and  gracing  the  exteriors  of  the 
principal  men  of  a  large  section  centered  by  the  city  in  which  he  is  located. 
From  a  small  beginning,  he  has,  by  the  mere  force  of  a  strong  Avill,  joined 
to  thorough  integrity  of  character,  and  an  unusual  degree  of  talent, 
achieved  a  proud  position  in  his  profession.  There  is  no  one  in  the  city 
whose  career  might  be  better  quoted  as  an  encouragement  to  those  about  to 
launch  out  on  the  perilous  and  uncertain  voyage  of  life  to  illustrate  the 
triumphs  of  industry,  integrity,  enterprise  and  fidelity. 

Mr.  Ely  was  born  on  the  2d  of  March,  1830,  in  Huntington,  Con- 
necticut. He  is  the  son  of  Elisha  and  Eloisa  Ely,  both  of  whom 
enjoyed,  in  the  highest  degree,  the  esteem  of  their  fellow-citizens  for  the 
same  qualities  which  have  since  distinguished  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Both  his  grandfathers  were  ministers,  and  the  one  on  the  paternal  side. 
Reverend  David  Ely,  D.  D.,  presided,  for  fifty-three  years,  over  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  his  native  town,  being  it.s  only  pastor  during  that  period. 


208  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

His  eloquent  and  impressive  discourses  are  remembered  over  all  the  district 
of  which  he  had  charge,  as  also  throughout  the  entire  State.  He  fitted  a 
large  number  of  young  men  for  college,  among  ^vhom  were  his  three 
sons — all  of  whom  graduated  at  Yale  College.  The  family  of  which 
Mr.  Ely  is  a  member  consisted  of  seven  brothers  and  two  sisters,  of  whom 
three  brothers  and  one  sister  are  now  dead.  One  of  the  brothers  is  in 
California,  and  two  are  engaged  in  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Ely,  on 
Wasliington  street.  The  surviving  sister  is  the  wife  of  Hev.  R.  D.  Gardner, 
of  Sharon,  Connecticut. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  years  and  three  months,  leaving  school,  Mr.  Ely 
left  home,  going  to  Birmingham,  Connecticut,  to  fit  himself  for  active 
business.  He  had  not,  at  that  time,  the  remotest  idea  of  becoming  a 
tailor,  but  certain  peculiar  circumstances  led  him  to  investigate,  and  he 
Ibuiul  himself  possessed  of  talent  which  })romised  to  be  very  useful  in 
that  vocation.  He  made  an  engagement  in  Birmingham,  and  his  assi- 
duity and  skill  were  such  that  he  became  an  almost  invaluable  aid,  long 
before  the  apprentice  is  ordinarily  expected  to  develop  into  the  workman. 
He  served  four  years  there,  and  the  fifth,  or  graduating  year,  was  passed 
in  one  of  the  best  houses  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  He  here  made 
himself  thorough  master  of  all  the  details  of  his  art. 

During  the  summer  of  1852,  Mr.  Ely  bethought  him  to  take  a  tour 
westward,  in  order  to  find  for  himself  a  permanent  home.  He  left  his 
old  associates  in  October  of  that  year,  bearing  with  him  tlieir  most  hearty 
wishes  for  his  future  success  in  his  new  home.  The  pilgriju  did  not  know, 
at  setting  out,  whither  he  would  go,  but,  after  about  one  month's  pros- 
pecting and  traveling,  he  found  himself  in  Chicago,  and  it  took  him  but 
a  short  time  to  decide  that  he  had  f  )und  the  spot  he  had  so  long  sought. 
He  resolved  to  make  it  his  home,  and  to  employ  there  whatever  of  talent 
and  energy  he  possessed  in  founding  his  future  fortunes.  He  passed  the 
first  few  months  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Temple,  and  then,  in  April, 
1853,  he  became  his  own  master.  He  rented  a  place  in  the  old  wooden 
tenement  known  as  Dickey's  building,  opposite  the  Tremont,  on  Dearborn 
street,  on  the  site  of  the  elegant  structure  which  now  bears  the  same  name. 
His  store  was  about  fifteen  by  eighteen  feet,  and  for  that  he  paid  an  annual 
rental  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  He  remained  there  nearly  two 
years,  when  he  removed  to  a  fine  store  under  the  Tremont  House,  where, 
for  nearly  ten  years,  he  prosecuted  his  calling  in  the  most  indefatigable 
manner,  earning  for  himself,  throughout  the  West,  an  enviable  reputation 


EDWARD    ELY.  209 

for  artistic  skill  and  business  integrity.  His  piitronage  continued  to 
increase  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  at  last  compelled  to  seek  more 
commodious  quarters,  and  fitted  up  the  magnificent  establishment  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Dearborn  and  Washington  streets.  This  was  thrown 
open  to  his  patrons  on  the  evening  of  November  4,  18G4,  when  about 
fifteen  hundred  of  his  friends  assembled  to  congratulate  him  and  give  him 
their  assurances  of  best  wishes  for  his  future  success.  This  event  was  far 
from  proving  the  climax  of  his  fortunes.  Day  by  day,  and  year  by  year, 
since  tjien,  his  business  has  continued  to  increase,  and  bids  fair  to  do  so  in 
even  a  greater  ratio,  in  the  future.  The  removal  already  referred  to  was 
an  epoch  in  his  history,  and  marko<l  one  in  that  of  Chicago.  He  has 
employed,  for  some  time,  about  sixty  men,  and  paid  an  annual  rental  of 
six  thousand  dollars  for  business  ])urp()ses,  where  fourteen  years  since  he 
employed  but  three  men,  and  hired  a  room  at  about  twenty  dollars  per 
month.  On  the  1st  of  October  last  he  removed  to  Nos.  3  and  4  Wash- 
ington street. 

Mr.  Ely  was  married,  August  17,  1854,  to  Miss  E.  A.  Bowditch, 
daughter  of  J.  B.  and  Esther  A.  Bowditch,  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 
One  daughter,  the  sole  result  of  the  union,  was  born  October  18,  1855. 
Mrs.  Ely  departed  this  life  October  4,  1861,  at  the  residence  of  her  father, 
and  her  remains  were  In'ought  to  Chicago  and  interred  in  the  family  vault 
at  Graceland  Cemetery.  On  the  20th  of  April,  1863,  he  was  again 
married  to  Miss  E.  M.  Curtiss,  daughter  of  Harvey  and  Clarissa  Curtiss, 
of  ^Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  with  whom  he  is  now  living  happily. 

Chicago  honors  such  citizens.  They  are,  in  fact,  the  very  pith  and 
marrow  of  her  material  [)rosperity.  Our  city  constantly  proclaims 
through  them  to  the  world  that  "the  rank  is  but  the  guinea  stamp,"  and 
that  the  man  is  the  man  in  all  circumstiinces  throujjhout  the  world. 


J 

OLTYER  F.  FULLER. 


? 


Chicago  justly  feels  proud  of  her  wholesale  merchants.  Tiiey  have 
made  her  the  distributing  point  for  the  productions  of  a  hundred  climes 
to  the  people  of  the  great  West,  as  her  natural  position  has  made  her  the 
receiving  focus  into  which  is  poured  its  treasures.  In  no  department  is 
this  more  conspicuous  than  in  that  of  medicine,  and  the  thousand  articles 
not  really  necessary  to,  but  associated  with,  the  drug  trade.  Chicago  may 
literally  be  said  to  physic  almost  the  entire  continent,  and  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  medicines  sent  out  from  this  city  are  alterative  in  their  action, 
making  for  it  a  name  and  fame  in  many  sections  where  otherwise  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Garden  City  would  not  have  been  felt,  and  attracting  hither 
large  amounts  of  that  money  whose  ample  circulation  among  us  is  matter 
of  surprise  and  envy  to  the  people  of  other  cities.  Prominent  among 
tiiose  who  have  worked  out  this  grand  result,  laying  the  foundations  of 
the  drug  trade  in  our  midst,  and  working  faitiifully  to  build  it  up  to  its 
present  collossal  proportions,  is  Oliver  F.  Fuller,  Esq.,  of  the  well- 
known  firm  of  Fuller,  Finch  &  Fuller. 

]\Ir.  Fuller  was  born  on  the  19th  of  October,  1829,  in  Sherman, 
Fairlield  County,  Connecticut,  the  elder  of  two  children.  His  lather, 
Revilo,  was  a  tanner,  who  traced  his  ancestry  and  that  of  his  wife,  Caroline 
E.,  back  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  The  early  life  of  the  subject  of  our 
sketch  contained  few  incidents.  He  attended  the  ordinary  district  school 
from  the  age  of  seven  to  fifteen  years,  and  was  noted  as  a  bright  scholar, 
[generally  keeping  at  the  head  of  his  class.  At  a  very  early  point  in  his 
boyhood's  history,  he  manifested  a  great  desire  to  nnike  his  living  by 
"  tending  store,"  and  tiie  juvenile  leaning  was  fostered  by  his  being  occa- 
sionally employed  for  a  day  or  two  at  a  time  in  the  establishment  of  a 
merchant  near  his  father's  residence.     When  about  fourteen  years  okl,  he 


212  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

experienced  his  first  disappointment.  A  merchant,  residing  about  four 
miles  distant,  Ivuowing  his  great  desire  for  a  mercantile  life,  olfered  him  a 
position  as  clerk  in  his  store.  The  ambitious  youth  saw  here  the  founda- 
tion of  his  future  fortune,  and  begged  the  consent  of  his  parents  to  the 
proposed  step.  They  were  sorry  to  say  "no,"  but  the  father  had  too  high 
a  regard  for  his  son's  welfare  to  consent.  The  store  in  question  was  one 
in  which  liquor  was  sold  by  the  glass,  and  he  would  not  place  the  boy  in 
the  way  of  temptation.  The  decision  was  far  from  being  palatable  to 
young  Fuller ;  he  rushed  out  of  the  house  to  the  wood  pile,  seized  the  axe, 
and  commenced  chopping  violently,  as  a  relief  to  his  angered  feelings.  In 
his  blind  fury  he  struck  his  leg,  inflicting  a  severe  injury,  which  brought 
him  to  his  senses,  and  he  asked  his  mother's  forgiveness  for  his  disobe- 
dience. He  remained  under  the  parental  roof  for  another  year,  Avhen  a 
former  instructor,  who  knew  the  boy's  talent  and  industrious  habits, 
recommended  him  to  Dr.  Brewer,  an  apothecary  in  Peekskill,  New  York, 
to  whom  his  parents,  after  some  hard  pleading,  consented  that  he  should 
go  to  learn  the  business. 
\  The  commencement  of  his  business  existence  was  an  auspicious  one. 

^>-  He  found  a  good,  kind  master,  and  a  competent  instructor,  who  was  willing 

to  acknowledge  merit  and  reward  it.  The  first  year's  salary  was  fixed  at 
seventy-five  dollars  and  board,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  his  master  was 
so  well  pleased  that  he  made  him  a  present  of  twenty-five  dollars.  The 
next  year's  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  was  similarly  augmented  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  the  two  folloAving  years  he  received  one 
hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hundred  dollars  as  salary,  with  a  present  of 
fifty  dollars  at  the  end  of  each.  The  youth  Avas  careful.  The  first  year 
he  laid  by  fifty  dollars,  and  at  the  end  of  the  four  years,  his  savings  had 
amounted  to  four  hundred  dollars. 

At  this  time  another  drug  store  in  the  same  village  was  offered  for 
sale,  and,  after  conferring  Avith  his  employer  on  the  subject,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  another  young  man,  and  with  him  took  the  store,  which 
they  conducted  for  three  years  with  good  success.  At  the  end  of  this  time, 
Mr.  Fuller's  health  failed,  and  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  business, 
remaining  idle  for  about  a  year.  During  this  period  he  received  a 
tempting  offer  to  go  to  California,  but  the  advice  of  his  father  was  adverse 
to  the  step,  and  he  gave  up  the  idea.  About  this  time  the  East  was 
ringing  with  reports  of  the  future  greatness  of  Chicago,  and  Mr.  Fuller 
decided  to  try  his  fortune  in  this  city. 


OLIVER    F.    FILLER.  213 

He  arrived  liere  in  February,  1852,  the  year  in  which  was  developed 
the  niagiilHcent  railroad  system  which  now  connects  Chicago  with  every 
j)art  of  the  civilized  world.  He  rented  a  store  at  No.  195  Lake  street; 
there  laying  the  foundations  of  the  ])rcseiit  business  of  Fuller,  Finch  & 
Fuller,  now  of  Nos.  22,  24,  26  and  28  jSIarket  street — a  house  whose  con- 
nections are  as  extensive  as  those  of  the  vast  railroad  network  which  has 
grown  up  with  them.  On  the  opening  of  navigation  he  shipped  hither 
his  first  venture  of  goods,  and  commenced  with  a  retail  and  small  jobbing 
drug  business.  His  success  was  assured  from  the  outset.  The  books 
showed,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  a  total  of  sales  of  more  than  forty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  subsequent  increase  was  such  that  a  removal  to 
the  present  location  was  many  years  ago  rendered  a  necessity.  The  sales 
of  the  house  in  1866  amounted  to  about  two  million  dollars. 

The  business  success  of  Mr.  Fuller  could  not  have  been  achieved  had 
there  not  been  a  fertile  field  in  which  to  operate;  but  that  field  was  culti- 
vated only  by  energy,  perseverance,  untiring  industry  and  economy.  The 
apprentice  who  saved  four  hundred  dollars  during  his  term  of  servitude 
was  but  the  blade  of  corn  which  three  or  four  years  afterwards  developed 
into  the  ear  in  Chicago,  and  is  now  ripened  into  "the  full  corn  in  the 
ear;"  and  the  attention  to  business  which  induced  the  good  doctor  to 
reward  him  beyond  the  contract  price  of  his  services  has  been  continued 
to  this  day.  During  the  first  seven  or  eight  years  of  his  residence  in 
Chicago,  he  spent  fifteen  to  eighteen  hours  of  the  twenty-four  in  his  office, 
and  to  this  day  exercises  entire  supervision  over  the  vast  extent  of  the 
business  in  this  city.  His  partners  are  each  actively  engaged,  but  it  is  as 
purchasers  abroad — Mr.  E.  B.  Finch  residing  in  London  and  Paris,  whence 
he  is  constantly  making  shipments  of  goods,  and  ^Iv.  II.  Vt\  Fuller  being 
similarly  located  in  New  York,  Avhere  he  attends  to  American  purchases. 
The  entire  management  of  the  purchases  and  sales  in  Chicago  is  under 
the  direction  of  the  senior  partner — O.  F.  Fuller.  He  forms  no  exception 
to  the  rule  which  has  so  many  shining  illustrations  in  this  book,  that 
genuine  success  is  not  the  gift  of  genius  or  fortune,  but  of  ])roperly 
directed  industry — the  guiding  reins  being  conscientiousness  and  conmion 
sense. 

The  calibre  of  Mr.  Fuller's  mind  may  be  accurately  inferred  from  the 
way  in  which  his  business  is  conducted.  The  vast  establishment, 
occupying  four  lots,  five  stories  in  height,  Avith  basements  extending  far 
under  the  street,  is  crammed  full  of  goods,  brought  from  every  (piarter 


214  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  the  liabitable  globe,  a  full  list  being  kept  of  every  article  known  in 
the  trade;  yet  the  place  is  the  soul  of  order.  Everything  is  there 
arranged,  and  done,  with  clock-work  regularity  and  precision,  and  Avith 
lightning  dispatch,  while  the  different  operations  are  made  to  check  each 
other  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  simply  impossible  for  a  mistake  to  be  made 
in  any  department  without  being  almost  instantly  detected.  Old  Procras- 
tination never  sets  his  foot  inside  those  portals.  The  scores  of  orders 
which  come  in  each  morning  must  all  be  jlilled,  and  the  goods  sent  off, 
before  the  day's  work  is  done;  while  the  articles  are  all  of  the  purest  and 
best.  Herein  lies  the  secret  of  the  immense  success  of  the  house;  its 
head  is  the  soul  of  method,  conscientious  in  his  dealings,  and  indefatigable 
in  seeing  that  his  plans  of  action  are  adhered  to  by  his  army  of  workers. 
The  trade  early  found  that  they  could  place  absolute  reliance  there,  on 
being  able  to  obtain,  without  fail,  Avhat,  how  much,  and  when,  goods 
were  wanted,  and  hence  the  almost  universal  patronage  which  scarcely 
limits  the  area  of  their  distributions  by  the  bounds  of  a  continent. 

Mr.  Fuller  was  married,  at  Peekskill,  New  York,  November  9,  1857, 
to  Miss  Phoebe  Ann,  a  daughter  of  INlorris  and  Susan  Shipley,  Quakers, 
of  that  place.  He  has  two  children,  botli  boys,  born  respectively  in  1861 
and  1863.  His  only  sister  married  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  named 
Giddings,  now  resident  at  Housatonic,  Massachusetts.  Theologically,  he 
follows  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  being  a  Presbyterian,  in  regular  attendance 
on  divine  worship,  though  not  a  church  member. 


K 


WILLIAM   W.   BOYOGTON. 


The  architect  is  one  of  tlie  most  influential  men  in  the  community, 
and  is  largely  instrumental  in  determining  the  general  appearance  of  a 
city,  giving  outside  character  to  the  people.  The  outworkings  of  his. 
brain  arc  the  shapes  and  moulds  which  strike  the  eye  of  the  traveler  -with 
pleasure  or  distaste,  and  make  tlie  location  attractive  or  otherwise  to  him 
and  to  those  who,  through  him,  obtain  an  idea  of  its  claims  to  their 
patronage,  or  desirability  as  a  residence. 

Tlie  industries  of  the  people  make  a  city,  bringing  into  subjection  the 
forces  of  nature,  and  changing  her  common  treasures  into  stores  of  indi- 
vidual wealth;  but  it  is  the  architect  who  shapes  and  directs  their  labors, 
and  arranges  for  their  most  convenient  performance.  It  is  his  province  to 
take  the  situation  as  he  finds  it,  to  study  its  peculiarities  of  climate,  soil, 
position  and  material,  to  group  with  tlicsc  the  industrial  activities  and 
social  habits  of  the  people,  giving  to  each  and  all  tlicir  due  importance  in 
the  discussion  of  the  question,  how  best  to  plan  the  structures  in  which 
the  people  live,  do  business,  worship,  are  educated,  or  merely  amused,  so 
as  to  develop  the  greatest  amount  of  architectural  beauty  conjoined  with 
absolute  fitness  to  the  position  and  to  the  end  sought  in  the  building. 
The  best  architect  is  the  one  who  most  thoroughly  effects  this  combination 
of  idea  and  aim,  and  the  degree  of  ])erfection  exhibited  in  this  respect 
determines  the  relative  desirability  of  a  structure  or  city. 

Chicago  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  her  architects.  They  arc  a  superior 
class  of  men,  having  grappled  successfully  with  difiiculties  of  no  ordinary 
magnitude.  Our  lack  of  natural  drainage,  the  inequalities  of  our  streets, 
and  the  early  dearness  of  durable  building  material,  all  presented  great 
obstacles,    while    the    treacherous    character    of   the    soil    in   the    most 


216  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

aristocratic  i3ortions  of  the  city  seemed  for  a  time  to  lay  an  embargo  on 
the  erection  of  massive  buildings.  In  spite  of  all  this,  we  have  now  a  city 
which  will  compare  favorably  in  point  of  architectural  fitness  with  any  on 
the  continent.  We  may  not  have  progressed  so  far  yet  into  the  realms  of 
gorgeous  adornment  as  some  others,  because  with  us  the  genuine  utilitarian 
])rinciple  is  prevalent.  But  for  solidity  and  adaptability  to  the  end 
sought,  we  need  yield  to  none,  and  though  the  useful  takes  precedence  of 
the  merely  beautiful,  we  have  scarcely  an  unsymmetrical  building,  or  one 
whose  proportions  and  details  are  not  in  accordance  with  good  taste,  out 
of  the  thousands  of  structures  which  have  been  designed  by  our  city  archi- 
tects, while  there  are  very  many  in  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  suggest 
an  improvement,  either  in  external  appearance  or  internal  arrangement. 

Prominent  among  the  arcliitects  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  stands  the 
subject  of  this  sketch — William  W.  Boyington — a  true  represen- 
tative man  of  his  class,  and  an  acknowledged  leader  in  that  great 
architectural  reform  which,  during  the  fourteen  years  of  his  residence 
here,  has  been  in  progress  in  Chicago,  appropriating  her  waste  places  to 
occupancy  by  the  busy  multitude,  and  changing  her  shanty  dwellings  to 
palaces  vrherein  operate  and  dwell  the  real  kings  of  the  great  West — her 
business  men.  He  has  been  a  power  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  Chicago 
in  its  external  aspect.  From  him  has  gone  forth  the  fiat  which  has  set  at 
work  and  kept  busy  thousands  of  intelligent  workmen,  whose  every 
movement  was  in  harmony  with  the  one  great  idea  of  the  author,  and 
ever  tending  to  its  completion.  Dozens  of  draughtsmen  and  clerks  have 
detailed  his  conceptions  on  paper,  and  thousands  have  given  them  more 
enduring  form  in  wood,  brick,  cement,  or  marble.  A  vast  number  of  our 
largest,  most  stately,  and  most  useful  edifices  are  the  realizations  of  his 
"thoughts  on  arcliitecture."  Nearly  as  many  marble  fronts  have  been 
erected  from  his  designs  as  from  those  of  all  the  other  architects  combined. 

Mr.  Boyington's  professional  greatness  is  of  the  genuine  stamp — the 
result  of  study,  hard  work,  a  constant  attention  to  the  requirements  of  the 
occasion.  His  was  no  royal  road  to  eminence.  He  commenced  life  with 
but  the  ordinary  advantages  of  education,  neither  birth  nor  fortune  aiding 
with  their  seven-league  boots  in  the  race  to  the  temple  of  fame;  and  if 
he  outstripped  the  great  crowd  in  the  universal  "  onward  press,"  it  was 
simply  that  his  steps  were  judiciously  taken,  that  the  path  was  carefully 
scanned  as  he  moved  along,  and  the  most  direct  route  chosen  toward  tlie 
desired  goal.     He  is  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  claiming  only  that  patent, 


wjr.LrA>r   \v.  boyincjtox.  217 

the  seal  of  which  is  borne  by  so  many  of  our  Western  men,  and  has 
become  the  imprint  of  Western  institutions — the  sign  of  A\'estern  i)rogress. 
W.  AV.  Boyington  was  born  July  22,  1818,  in  the  town  of  Southwick, 
County  of  Hampden,  State  of  Massachusetts.  His  father,  Juba,  and  his 
mother,  Aurelia,  daughter  of  Captain  Thomas  Campbell,  were  both 
children  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Southwick.  The  family  lived  there 
until  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  about  sixteen  years  old,  where  he 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  common  and  academic  schools.  In  1834, 
the  whole  family  removed  to  Springfield,  in  the  same  county.  About  this 
time  he  joined  the  Baptist  Church,  and  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of 
a  carpenter  and  joiner,  under  his  father.  He  made  such  good  progress  that 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  able  to  do  a  journeyman's  work  and 
command  full  M-ages.  This  was  the  result  of  intense  application.  His 
evenings  were  devoted  to  the  study  of  architectural  science,  while  his 
working  hours  were  occupied  in  mastering  the  details  of  his  trade.  His 
ambition  was  to  become  thoroughly  competent,  as  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  that  too  numerous  class  of  workmen  who  are  always  in  trouble 
through  ignorance  of  their  business.  His  efforts  were  crowned  with  such 
success  that  at  the  early  age  of  twenty  he  was  employed  as  foreman  by 
Charles  Stearns,  Esq.,  who  was  heavily  engaged  in  building,  and  carried 
on  a  lumber  yard,  both  of  which  branches  of  business  were  intrusted  to 
the  supervision  of  Mr.  Boyington.  He  here  had  an  excellent  opj)ortunity 
of  exercising  his  architectural  skill,  and  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
different  kinds  and  gradations  of  the  various  materials  used  in  luiilding. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  commenced  business  for  himself,  as  a 
builder,  executing  several  heavy  contracts,  and,  being  known  as  a  reliable 
architect,  he  was  not  unfrequently  called  upon  to  furnish  designs  for  build- 
ings to  he  executed  by  others.  He  continued  in  business  very  successfully 
for  about  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  his  shop  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  his  tools  and  materials  being  entirely  consumed.  This  was  a 
terrible  blow,  but  the  case  was  not  desperate.  A  new  shop  was  quickly 
in  running  order,  in  a  new  locality,  and  within  another  year  his  business 
had  so  much  increased  that  he  removed  to  another  location,  where  a  steam- 
engine,  planing  mill,  and  door  and  sash-making  machines  were  added  to 
his  previous  force  of  hand-workers. 

This  establishment  was  placed  on  a  more  solid  pecuniary  basis 
by  a  partnership  arrangement,  and  imder  the  firm  name  of  Decreetc, 
Boyington  &  Co.,  business  rapidly   increased   to   a   very   large  extent, 


218  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

Mr.  Boyington  attending  to  the  architectural  department.  For  five  years 
tlie  company  was  highly  prosperous,  at  the  end  of  Avhich  time  it  was 
nearly  ruined  by  a  fire  that  entirely  destroyed  their  buildings  and 
machinery,  and  swept  out  of  existence  one  of  the  largest  lumber  stocks  in 
that  section.  The  shops  were,  however,  rebuilt,  but  INIr.  Boyington  soon 
thereafter  sold  out  his  interest,  and  thenceforward  devoted  himself  exclu- 
sively to  architectural  labors.  During  the  next  two  years  many  extensive 
buildings  were  erected  from  his  designs,  and  many  imjjortant  contracts 
made  and  executed.  About  this  time  he  Avas  elected  a  member  of  the 
tState  Legislature,  and  assigned  the  position  of  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Public  Buildings. 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  JSlr.  Boyington  came  out  to  Chicago,  to  see  the 
chances  offered  in  this  city,  which  was  then  just  beginning  to  be  talked 
about  in  the  East.  He  returned  home,  and  after  some  month's  delay 
Avound  uj)  his  business  in  Massachusetts,  and  in  November  removed 
hither.  His  first  work  here  was  to  make  out  a  plan  for  Charles  Walker, 
Esq.,  of  the  ground  on  which  the  gi'cat  Central  Union  Depot  now  stands, 
showing  the  character  of  the  buildings  which  could  lie  placed  upon  it,  the 
railroad  company  being  then  about  negotiating  for  the  site  for  the  depot 
grounds.  He  has  been  ever  since  that  period  most  prominently  identified 
with  the  history  of  our  civic  growth,  as  the  city  Avas  just  ready  for  archi- 
tectural style,  and  finding  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  talents,  and 
generally  meeting  with  the  recognition  Avhich  his  ability  deserved, 
especially  after  the  first  feAV  months,  by  Avhich  time  he  Avas  generally  con- 
ceded to  be  a  man  of  extraordinary  talent  in  his  profession.  His  success 
during  the  subsequent  thirteen  years  is  scarcely  equaled  in  the  history  of 
any  architect  in  the  whole  of  the  United  States. 

Up  to  the  year  1853,  Avhen  Mr.  Boyington  came  to  Chicago,  the  city 
could  boast  but  very  fcAv  buildings  Avorthy  of  note  in  an  architectural 
point  of  AdcAV.  Here  and  there  a  structure  A\'as  visible  possessing  some 
claims  to  notice,  but,  Avith  a  limited  range  of  exceptions,  the  buildings 
in  the  city  Avere  little  better  in  appearance  or  comfort  than  the  old  log 
house,  and  not  one-half  so  substantial.  How  Avonderfully  the  scene  has 
changed!  The  revulsions  of  commercial  panics,  the  uniA^ersal  suspension 
of  banks,  the  almost  entire  stagnations  of  trade,  the  terrible  excitements 
of  AA'ar;  none  of  these  haA'C  stayed  the  successive  piling  of  bricks,  the 
aggregation  of  slabs  of  marble,  and  the  rearing  of  the  massiA'^e  timbers, 
to  form  our  city  into  one  great  system  of  architectural  beauty. 


Wir-I.IAM    \V.    l!()VIX(iT()N.  219 

A  glance  at  some  of  the  more  important  stijuctures  erected  under  the 
supervision  of  Mr.  Boyington  will  show,  to  some  extent,  how  large  a 
share  of  credit  is  due  to  him  as  a  contributor  (o  this  grand  result.  The 
following,  erected  froni  his  designs,  and  under  his  immediate  oversight, 
embrace  a  majority  of  our  most  prominent  bnildings,  though  in  this  list 
we  omit  all  mention  of  many  hundreds  of  buildings  of  various  kinds,  the 
construction  of  which  he  has  superintended,  and  M'hich  alone  would,  in 
the  career  of  most  architects,  make  a  very  creditable  display,  both  in 
number  and  individual  importance. 

He  has  been  the  architect  of  the  following  churches:  St.  Paul's, 
Universalist,  corner  of  Van  Buren  street  and  Wabash  avenue;  First 
Prasbyterian  Church,  on  Wabash  avenue,  near  Congress  street;  A\''abasli 
Avenue  INIethodist  Episcopal  Church,  on  the  corner  of  Harrison  street; 
First  Baptist  Church,  on  AVabash  avenue,  near  Hubbard  Court;  North 
Presbyterian  Church,  corner  of  Cass  and  Illinois  streets;  Centenary 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  on  West  Monroe  street,  near  Morgan. 

The  above  named  six  church  societies  are  the-  most  prominent  and 
influential,  in  their  various  denominations,  in  the  NorthAvest,  and  the 
buildings  will  compare  favorably  with  the  same  number  of  churches  in 
any  of  the  Eastern  cities,  if,  indeed,  they  may  not  take  rank  as  superior 
in  architectural  perfection  and  internal  arrangemeiit  to  any  in  the  East. 
Church  edifices,  but  little  inferior  to  those  above  mentioned,  have  been 
erected  from  the  designs  of  Mr,  Boyington  in  the  States  of  Michigan, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Iowa,  and  in  various  cities  in  this  State, 
outside  of  Chicago,  for  several  different  denominations. 

Among  the  hotels  ])lanned  and  erected  by  Mr.  Boyington,  are  the 
magnificent  Sherman  House,  standing  on  the  corner  of  Clark  and 
Randolph  streets,  the  Massasoit  House,  on  the  corner  of  Lake  street 
and  Central  avenue,  in  this  city;  the  Newhall  House,  Milwaukee,  AVis- 
consin,  and  the  Brewster  House,  at  Freeport,  Illinois. 

Among  the  public  buildings  for  educational,  railroad,  reformatory  and 
other  ])urposes,  we  note  the  University  of  Chicago,  at  Cottage  Grove, 
together  with  the  Observatory  building,  which  now  contains  the  largest 
telescope  in  the  world;  Female  Seminary  at  Hyde  Park;  Female 
Seminary  and  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  on  AV^abash  avenue,  near 
Madison  street;  an  extensive  High  School  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa;  the 
Illinois  State  Penitentiary,  at  Joliet,  a  fire-i)roof  building  throughout,  was 
constructed  principally  under  his  charge;  the  buildings  and  tower  of  the 


220  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Chicago  Water  Works;  Insane  Asylum  and  County  House,  at  Knoxville, 
Illinois ;  State  Arsenal  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa ;  fire-proof  County  Jail  in  Pike 
County,  Illinois;  fire-proof  building  occupied  by  the  Land  Department 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  located  on  Michigan  avenue;  the  union 
depot  and  office  building  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific,  and 
Michigan  Southern  and  Northern  Indiana  Railroad  Companies,  fronting 
on  Van  Burcn,  Sherman,  Harrison  and  GrisAvold  streets — unequaled  in 
regard  to  extent  and  architectural  effectiveness  by  any  railroad  building 
yet  erected  in  the  United  States ;  Crosby's  Opera  House  and  Art  Building, 
fronting  on  Washington  and  State  streets.  It  is  the  finest  structure  of 
the  kind  in  the  country,  and  is  superior,  in  several  respects,  to  any  structure 
now  existing  as  an  opera  house  or  theatre,  in  any  of  the  countries  of 
Europe;  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building  and  public  hall,  on 
Madison  street  and  Broadway  place — finished  in  1867.  The  hall  is  the 
largest  in  the  West,  and  capable  of  seating  three  thousand  persons; 
INIasonic  Hall  and  Oriental  building,  on  La  Salle  street,  between  Washing- 
ton and  Madison. 

Of  extensive  business  blocks,  we  may  mention  the  following:  Bowen 
Brothers'  and  McKay  Brothers'  marble  front  block,  fronting  on  Wabash 
avenue  and  Randolph  street;  McCorinick  and  Farwell's  marble  block,  on 
Lake  street,  near  Wabash  avenue ;  McCormick  and  Powell's  marble  block, 
on  the  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and  Lake  street;  Wadsworth  and 
Keep's  marble  block,  on  the  corner  of  AVabash  avenue  and  Lake  street; 
Mills,  Follansbee  &  Co.'s  marble  block,  on  the  corner  of  Lake  street  and 
A\^abash  avenue. 

The  above  named  comprise  a  street  frontage  of  over  twelve  hundred 
lineal  feet,  or  very  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  embrace  a  large 
majority  of  all  the  wholesale  marl:>le-fronted  stores  in  the  city. 

About  the  same  number  of  equally  extensive  wholesale  stores  have 
been  erected  in  the  same  neighborhood,  and  on  South  Water  and  River 
streets,  from  the  designs  of  Mr.  Boyington,  all  of  which  are  the  heaviest 
class  stores,  Avith  brick  fronts.  iMr.  Boyington  has  also  designed  and 
superintended  the  erection  of  smaller  blocks,  both  marble  and  brick,  for 
retail  stores  and  offices,  on  the  various  streets  in  the  city,  too  numerous  to 
recapitulate,  but  can  be  enumerated  by  the  mile.  He  has  been  equally 
sought  for  as  the  architect  for  private  dwellings.  Some  idea  of  his  popu- 
larity in  this  particular  may  be  gathered  from  a  statement  of  the  fact 
that  the  three-quarters  of  a  mile  next  north  of  Twelfth  street,  on  INIichigan 


WII-LFAM    \\\    I5()YIN(iT(>X.  221 

avenue,  contains  thirty  of  the  very  best  dwellings  in  the  city,  nearly  all 
marble  fronts,  including  the  magnificent  marble-fronted  terrace  on  Van 
Buren  street;  all  of  which  have  been  designed  and  superintended  by 
Mr.  Boyington.  Of  these  buildings  we  might  enumerate  many  Avhich 
are  of  the  most  expensive  order,  and  not  inferior  to  anything  to  be  found 
on  Fifth  avenue,  in  New  York.  He  has  been  the  architect,  also,  of 
buildings  in  nearly  the  same  numerical  proportion  to  the  whole,  on 
the  other  avenues  of  the  South  Division,  and  in  the  North  and  AV^est 
Divisions. 

He  has  been  engaged  in  preparing  designs  and  plans  for  a  palatial 
residence,  the  most  extensive  of  anything  west  of  the  Hudson  River, 
which  is  being  erected  for  B.  F.  Allen,  Esq.,  Dcs  INIoines,  Iowa. 

In  this  age  of  practicality,  when  everything  is  measured,  at  least  in 
theory,  by  dollars  and  cents,  there  are  doubtless  many  who,  on  reading 
the  above,  will  feel  inclined  to  ask,  "What  does  it  all  amount  to?"  We 
will  answer  the  question  in  advance.  "Nearly  twenty  millions  of 
dollars."  This  is  a  round  statement  of  the  amount  which  has  been 
intrusted  to  Mr.  Boyington's  hands  for  building  purposes  in  this  city  and 
the  Northwest  during  the  past  thirteen  years.  In  order  to  a  full  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  to  society  of  the  conversion  of  this  vast  amount  of 
money,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  results  are  permanent,  ministering 
daily  to  our  social  wants  or  business  necessities,  paying  good  interest,  and 
not  suffering  material  deterioration  in  the  using.  It  must  be  remembered, 
also,  that  nearly  the  whole  of  this  money  has  been  expended  as  wages, 
paying  workmen  in  our  own  section.  The  clay  in  the  bank,  the  stone  in 
the  quarry,  and  the  tree  in  the  forest,  are  of  very  little  value.  It  is  when 
lal)or  has  been  expended  in  cutting,  shaping,  carrying  and  piling,  that 
they  become  valuable,  and  in  exact  proportion  to  the  amount  of  useful 
labor  expended  upon  them.  The  competent  architect  who  wields  these 
forces,  sets  in  motion  and  directs  these  energies,  is  a  real  benefactor  to  his 
race,  not  only  to  the  pecuniary  extent  of  so  many  dollars,  but  morally 
and  socially. 

Mr.  Boyington  married,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  while  Ibreman  for 
Mr.  Stearns,  Eunice  B.,  daughter  of  Jacob  Miller,  of  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1839.  On  that  day  in  1864, 
the  pair  celebrated  their  silver  wedding  in  C-hieago,  in  com])any  with 
their  nine  children — five  sons  and  four  dauy-hters.  He  has  lost  but  one 
child — his  first-born  son — who  died  at  an  early  age. 


222  BIOGRAPHICATi  SKETCHES. 

Personally,  Mr.  Boyington  is  a  man  in  whom  one  will  naturally  feel 
interested  on  a  casual  acquaintance.  In  the  office  he  is  the  soul  of 
method,  having  a  time  and  a  place  for  everything.  He  is  at  home  to 
everybody  at  proper  hours,  and  from  the  dictate  of  the  millionaire  to  the 
complaint  of  the  humblest  worker,  he  listens  to  all  with  a  respectful 
civility  and  answers  with  a  frankness  which  in  its  turn  commands  respect 
and  frankness  from  all.  He  is  a  model  in  the  despatch  of  business, 
seldom  needing  to  make  a  reference,  or,  if  needing  it,  knowing  exactly 
where  to  lay  his  hands  on  it.  He  is  at  home  on  every  subject  and  detail 
connected  with  his  business,  bears  in  mind  the  progress  of  every  piece  of 
work  which  he  may  have  in  hand,  and  directs  now  here,  now  there, 
without  hesitation,  confusion  or  danger  of  mistake.  His  success  lies  not 
so  much  in  de2)t]i  of  acquh-cment  as  in  eminent  practicality,  and  this  latter 
trait  is  noticeable  at  a  glance.  Outside,  his  eye  is  of  the  eagle  sort.  He 
takes  in  at  one  sweep  a  view  of  the  situation,  and  an  error  or  omission 
must  bo  well  covered  up  if  it  escape  him.  He  is  well  known,  too,  as 
thoroughly  conscientious,  never  seeking  to  take  undue  advantage,  but 
insisting  on  a  faithful  fulfillment  of  the  terms  of  a  contract  by  both 
parties  thereto. 


JOHN   McARTHUR. 


War,  like  all  other  evils,  has  its  coni])ensations.  To  those  who 
deplore  its  ravages,  terrible  beyond  all  api)rehcnsion,  it  is  a  consolation  to 
know  that  not  one  drop  of  blood  has  ever  been  lost,  but  that,  as  "the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church,"  so  every  stc))  in  the  pro- 
gress of  the  world  toward  a  higher  civilization  has  been  moistened  by 
tears  arid  blood.  Wherever  the  demon  of  destruction  has  gone,  he  has 
been  followed  by  the  angel  of  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  And  tlie 
triumph  of  evil  has  often  proved  oidy  the  prelude  to  a  still  greater  triumph 
of  good. 

In  glancing  at  the  compensations  of  war,  we  find  that  among  its  minor 
but  not  insignificant  benefits  is  the  development  of  character.  The  camj) 
and  the  battle-field  are  the  best  of  schools.  Some  scholars  break  down  in 
character  as  well  as  in  health  under  this  severe  discipline,  but  those  who 
can  endure  the  ordeal  gain  a  strength  and  grandeur  which  could  not  be 
attained  in  any  of  the  other  schools  of  practical  life.  Then,  too,  men  of 
sterling  worth  are  often  made  illustrious  by  the  fortunes  oi"  war  who  would 
otherwise  have  been  unknown  and  of  but  little  use  in  the  world.  General 
Grant,  transformed  from  a  poor  tanner's  clerk  to  the  foremost  man  in  all 
America,  if  not  in  all  the  world,  and  that,  too,  not  only  iu  honor  but  in 
usefuluess,  is  the  chief  rejm'Sentative  of  a  noble  army  of  bi-ave  and  true 
men  in  our  midst  who  migiit  have  lived  and  di(<l,  the  world  taking  no 
note  of  their  departure,  had  it  not  been  for  the  late  civil  war.  Prominent 
among  those  contributed  to  this  class  by  the  West,  is  to  be  ranked  General 
McArthur,  of  Chicago. 

John  McArtiiuk  was  born  in  the  j)arish  of  Erskinc,  ("onnty  of 
Renfrew,  in  the  southwestern  j)art  of  Scotland,  November  17,  182G.     On 


224  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  rugged  hills,  and  beside  the  swiftly  flowing  streams  of  Renfrewshire, 
where  the  childhood  and  youth  of  AMlliam  AVallace  was  nurtured,  were 
passed  the  first  years  of  our  hero's  life.  The  Scotch  county  which  bears 
the  name  borne  by  the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne  of  England  during  his 
American  travels,  was  the  ancestral  home  of  John  Knox,  the  founder  of 
Scotch  Presbyterianism,  and  it  was  from  the  castle  of  Cathcart,  in  the  same 
shire,  that  the  ill-starred  !Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  saw  her  kingdom  lost  by 
the  fatal  battle  of  Langside.  That  a  region  rich  in  such  heroic  traditions 
as  would  be  sure  to  cluster  around  such  a  memorable  locality  should 
inspire  a  spirit  of  noble  devotion  and  daring,  which  would  afterwards 
kindle  at  the  touch  of  war  into  the  fire  of  patriotism,  was  not  at  all 
strange.  The  legends  and  antecedents  of  a  place  have  hardly  less  to  do 
with  the  character  of  the  people  than  its  climate  and  institutions. 

Of  General  McArthur's  ancestors  but  little  is  known,  except  that  they 
were  Highlanders.  His  father,  John  McArthur,  Mas  a  native  of  Islay,  in 
the  western  highlands,  whence  he  emigrated,  at  an  (?arly  age,  to  the  place 
where  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born.  The  father  was  a  blacksmith, 
and  plied  his  trade  as  a  tenant  of  Lord  Blantyre.  At  a  very  early  age 
young  McArthur  became  a  regular  attendant  upon  the  parish  school, 
where  he  was  inducted  into  the  mysteries  of  an  elementary  education,  and 
the  profound  theology  of  the  AVcstminster  Catechism.  In  this  school  he 
remained  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  At  that  time  it  became 
necessary,  according  to  the  established  usage  of  the  country,  for  the  lad  to 
be  either  bound  out  for  service  to  learn  some  trade,  or  matriculated  as  a 
student  for  one  of  the  learned  professions.  A  seven  years'  apprenticeship 
vras  deemed  brief  enough  in  Avliich  to  learn  the  simplest  trade,  and  long 
enough  to  master  the  rudiments  of  any  profession.  As  John  had  made 
remarkable  progress  in  his  studies,  and  had  in  other  respects  given  signs 
of  far  more  than  ordinary  talent,  it  was  the  wish  of  his  parents  and  their 
parish  minister,  that  he  should  study  for  the  ministry.  The  patron  offered 
to  bestow  upon  him  a  scholarship  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and 
the  doting  father  was  willing  to  do  a  little  extra  work  at  the  forge,  if  by 
this  means  his  pride  and  heir  could  become  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
John  Knox — a  clerical  member  of  the  established  Kirk.  The  idea  of 
being  a  minister  was,  however,  exceedingly  distasteful  to  the  youth. 
Although  faultless  in  morals,  he  was  destitute  of  that  unction  which  consti- 
tutes a  divine  "call"  to  preach.  Feeling  an  aversion  to,  rather  than 
attractions  toward   the   sacred  desk  and   spiritual    ministrations,  young 


JOFIN    Mc  ARTHUR.  225 

McArthur  bluntly  refused  to  accept  the  offered  scholarsliip.  His  sadly 
disapi)ointcd  parents  gave  liini  his  choice,  blacksniithing  or  preaching — 
the  sledgc-hannncr  or  the  Bible,  ^^'llile  he  had  no^aste  for  the  sooty 
Avork  Avhich  would  require  and  develope  muscle  rathei-  than  intellect, 
brawn  rather  than  brain,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  enter  liis  lather's  shop. 
Between  being  a  son  of  Vulcan,  pounding  out  a  hard  l)ut  independent 
living,  and  a  son  of  Mercury,  discoursing  to  others  of  the  solemn  mysteries 
and  deep  verities  of  revealed  religion,  his  unalterable  choice  was  the 
former.  This  was  not  due  to  any  depreciation  of  the  high  calling  of  the 
preacher  of  righteousness,  but  rather  to  an  exalted  idea  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  pastor. 

With  the  true  grit,  if  we  may  be  allowed  the  colloquialism,  of  a 
genuine  son  of  Scotia,  our  hero  held  to  his  original  non-clerical  purpose, 
nothing  wavering.  That  struggle,  and  the  firmness  and  vigor  of  will 
which  it  called  forth,  were  in  after  years  conspicuous  upon  the  martial 
field.  Having  gained  the  mastery  then,  he  never  afterwards  succumbed  to 
any  opposition. 

Becoming  restive  under  the  obstacles  that  i)resente(l  themselves  to  a 
free  and  untrammeled  advancement  in  life  in  his  native  land,  he  resolved, 
on  coming  to  years  of  majority,  to  emigrate  to  the  Xew  World.  As  soon 
thereafter  as  he  could  get  fairly  ready,  he  sailed  for  America.  A  part  of 
his  outfit  was  a  bride,  with  whom,  in  July,  1849,  he  took  passage  for 
New  York. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  showing  the  sjnrit  of  the  man,  and  as  a 
prophecy  of  his  illustrious  future,  that  General  IMc Arthur  was  especially 
attracted  to  this  country  by  reading  accounts  of  the  Mexican  war.  The 
uniform  success  of  our  soldiers  filled  him  with  admiration  for  the  American 
jjcople,  and  he  determined  to  cast  in  his  life  with  them.  He  little  thought 
then,  that  before  many  years  the  same  people  would  be  engaged  in  a 
contest  by  the  side  of  which  the  Mexican  war  Mould  be  hardly  more  than 
a  "June  training/'  and  that  in  it  he  himself  was  destined  to  take  a  con- 
spicuous part.  The  martial  spirit  wliich  Mas  drawn  to  the  United  States 
by  the  beacon  fires  of  Buena  Vista  and  Lundy's  Lane,  was  designed  by  an 
inscrutable  Providence  to  have  no  inconsiderable  share  in  the  glory  of 
Donelson  and  Pittsburg  Landing. 

Upon  arriving  in  this  country,  our  brave  young  Scot  had  the  good 
sense  to  at  once  select  Chicago  as  his  future  home.  This  was  then  a  small 
city,  and  a  very  disagreeable  one  to  live  in ;  but  he  saw  from  its  geographical 


226  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

position  that  it  was  destined  to  be  the  metropolis  of  the  interior,  and 
he  determined  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  its  people,  then  nnmbering  but  little 
over  twenty-five  tliousand  souls.  Soon  after  his  arrival  here,  he  engaged 
in  the  boiler  manufacturing  business.  For  years  the  circle  of  his 
acquaintance  was  very  limited.  As  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  with  which  he  early  connected  himself,  he  led  a  life 
as  unobtrusive  as  that  of  General  Grant  at  Galena.  His  martial  spirit 
was  not,  howliver,  entirely  dormant,  even  in  tliose  years  of  ])eace,  for  he 
helped  organize  a  militia  company,  known  as  the  Highland  Guards.  In 
the  year  1857,  Governor  Bissell  gave  him  a  commission.  The  breaking 
out  of  the  war  found  him  Captain  of  his  company. 

When  tlie  first  call  fi)r  volunteers  was  issued  by  President  Lincoln, 
Captain  McArthur  tendered  his  services  and  tliose  of  his  company.  He 
was  at  once  elected  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Washington  Independent 
Regiment,  to  which  his  company  was  attached;  but  before  entering  the 
field  he  was  made  Colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Infiuitry.  He  was  first 
under  the  fire  of  a  regular  and  terrible  battle  at  Fort  Donelson,  where  he 
had  command  of  a  brigade,  and  displayed  sucli  signal  gallantry  that  he 
was  at  once  made  a  Brigadier-General. 

To  narrate  in  detail  the  career  of  General  McArthur  from  that  time 
on  to  the  close  of  the  war  would  be  to  reproduce  an  important  part  of  the 
history  of  the  national  struggle  in  the  Southwest.  Unschooled  in  the 
science  of  war,  he  yet  proved  himself  as  skillful  as  he  was  brave.  He 
had  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  military  service,  and  deservedly  ranks 
among  the  best  of  our  volunteer  officers.  In  the  battle  of  Pittsburg 
Landing  he  was  severely  wounded.  On  his  recovery  he  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  a  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  which  command  he 
continued  to  hold  until  ]K'ace  was  declared.  In  all  tin;  illustrious  ciim- 
paigns  and  glorious  achievements  of  that  wing  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  General  McArthur  and  his  Division  bore  a  conspicuous  part. 

During  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  he  was  strongly  recommended  for 
promotion.     General  Grant's  indorsement  reads  as  follows: 

"  Headquarters  Department  of  the  Tennessee, 
"Bevore  Vicksburg,  February  24,  18G3. 
"General  McArthur    has  proved    himself  a   zealous    and  efficient  officer,  from   the 
beginning   of  this  rebellion,   and  has  won  promotion  on  the  field  of  battle.     I  heartily 
indorse  him  for  promotion. 

"  U.  S.  Grant,  Major  General." 


JOHN    McAHTHUK.  227 

For  some  uncxplaincfl  reason,  the  deserved  promotion  huntji;  fire  in 
Wnshino'ton  for  a  long  time.  Finally,  the  battle  of  Nashville  added  fresh 
laurels  to  the  General's  brow,  and  on  tlie  reeommendation  of  General 
Thomas,  who  was  in  command  at  that  time  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, he  was  breveted  Major-General.  This  was  a  tardy  and  insufficient 
acknowledgment  of  arduous  and  eminent  services  upon  the  field  of 
danger;  but,  like  a  true  soldier  battling  for  his  country,  and  not  for 
personal  ambition,  General  McArthur  never  uttered  a  word  of  complaint. 
No  gift  of  titles  could  repay  the  debt  the  Republic  owes  him  and  liis 
glorious  companions  in  arms,  and  official  promotions  were  held  by  him  as 
of  secondary  importance. 

So  long  as  Chicago  cherishes  the  memory  of  her  brave  sons  who 
battled  for  their  country  against  domestic  foes — and  their  glory  can  never 
fade — so  long  will  the  name  of  General  John  McArthur  be  held  in 
distinguished  and  grateful  recollection. 


HOSMER  ALLEN  JOHNSON. 


The  subject  of  the  following  brief  biographical  sketch  was  born  in 
the  town  of  AYales,  near  Buffalo,  Ncav  York,  October  6,  1822.  His 
father,  Samuel  Johnson,  was  an  intelligent  member  of  the  great  agricul- 
tural class  of  American  citizens;  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Sally  Allen,  was  a  woman  of  intelligence,  perseverance,  and  a  high  order 
of  moral  and  intellectual  endowments.  Hosmer  Allen  was  the  first-born 
of  these  jiarents,  and  Avhile  he  was  yet  an  infant  they  moved  to  the  town 
of  Boston,  Erie  County,  New  York.  It  was  here  that  he  received  the 
first  rudiments  of  education,  in  tlie  common  or  district  school  of  the 
neighborhood.  When  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  age,  the  family,  following 
the  western  tide  <»f  emigration,  moved  to  the  town  of  Almont,  Lapeer 
County,  jNIichigan,  ^\hich  was  then  an  unbroken  wilderness.  The 
succeeding  nine  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  clearing  and  bringing 
under  cultivation  a  new  farm,  with  no  opportunities  for  attending  school. 
His  mind,  however,  was  nctt  idle;  ))ut,  under  the  guidance  and  aid  of  his 
mother,  he  employed  tlie  hours  not  actually  devoted  to  manual  labor  in 
studvin<r  those  branches  which  constitute  the  basis  of  all  edncation.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  received  a  severe  mechanical  injury,  which  was 
followed  by  symptoms  of  serious  ]Kilmonary  disease,  and  probably  perma- 
nent impairment  of  j)hysical  health. 

The  winter  following  his  eighteenth  year  he  spent  in  teaching  school, 
in  a  log  school-house,  in  a  community  of  lumbermen.  In  the  autumn  of 
1843,  having  attained  tlic  agi-  of  twenty-one  years,  he  entered  earnestly 
upon  the  work  of  ac(piiring  for  himself  a  full  academical  and  collegiate 
education.  As  his  father  was  unal>lc  to  allbrd  him  any  ])cciniiary  aid,  he 
pursued  the  course  which  has  been  adopted  in  early  Hfe  l)y  so  many  of  the 


230  BIOGRAPHICAI.   SKETCHES. 

most  eminent  men  of  our  country,  namely,  teaching  scliool  a  part  of  eacli 
year,  so  as  to  procure  means  for  attending  tlie  academy  or  college  the 
remaining  part.  He  pursued  his  academical  studies  in  Romeo,  Michigan, 
from  the  spring  of  1844  to  the  autumn  of  1846,  engaging  in  farm  Avork 
during  the  vacations,  and  some  of  the  time  in  teaching. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1846,  he  entered  the  sophomore  class  of 
the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  for  two  years  sustained 
himself  in  the  same  manner  as  at  the  academy  in  Romeo.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1848,  symptoms  of  pulmonary  disease  became  so  prominent  that 
his  physician  advised  him  to  leave  the  college  until  a  favorable  change 
should  take  place.  Accompanied  by  his  sister,  he  visited  Chicago  and 
St.  Louis,  and  liiuilly  di'termined  to  spend  the  succeeding  winter  in 
Vandalia,  the  former  capital  of  Illinois.  Here  he  again  engaged  in 
teaching,  and  also  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  geology  and  kindred 
topics  before  a  literary  society.  It  was  this  winter,  also,  that  he  com- 
menced regularly  the  study  of  medicine  as  a  pupil  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  B. 
Herrick,  then  a  practitioner  in  Vandalia.  A\'ith  health  much  improved, 
he  returned  in  the  spring  of  1849  to  the  University  of  JNlichigan,  passed 
the  required  examinations  with  much  credit,  and  at  the  following  College 
Commencement,  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  The  succeed- 
ing year  he  spent  in  Flint,  Michigan,  actively  engaged  in  teaching  school, 
and  in  continuing  the  study  of  medicine.  In  the  latter  he  received  kindly 
aid  from  Professor  l)e  Laskie  JNIiller,  now  a  resident  of  Chicago.  The 
earnings  of  this  year  enabled  him  to  discharge  all  the  pecuniary  obligations 
he  had  incurred  during  his  ])revious  collegiate  course,  and  he  determined 
to  enjoy  greater  facilities  for  prosecuting  his  professional  studies.  Accord- 
ingly, in  October,  1850,  he  came  to  Chicago  for  the  purpose  of  attending 
the  lectures  in  Rush  Medical  College.  On  his  arrival  he  found  himself 
without  money  enough  to  pay  his  board-bill  for  a  single  week.  To 
supply  this  defect,  however,  he  secured  a  situation  as  assistant  teacher  in 
a  select  school,  and  at  the  same  time  commenced  his  regular  attendance 
upon  the  lectures  in  the  Medical  College.  He  had  not  been  there  long- 
before  coming  in  contact  with  the  late  Professor  William  B.  Herrick,  then 
Professor  of  Anatomy,  and  brother  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Herrick,  of  Vandalia,  in 
whose  office  young  Johnson  had  first  registered  his  name  as  a  student  of 
medicine.  A  cordial  and  enduring  friendship  soon  sprung  up  between 
them,  and  the  student  became  an  active  and  efficient  assistant  to  the 
Professor,  more  especially  in  that  part  of  his  course  relating  to  histology 


HOSMER    ALLEN    JOHNSON.  '231 

and  mic-roscopu'  anatomy.  In  the  spi-iii^-  of  1851,  lu'  became  the  lir^t 
Interne  or  Resident  Physician  in  (he  iNliTcy  Hospital,  which  had  been 
oro-ani/eil  and  opened  lor  clinical  instruction  during  the  preceding 
autumn,  under  the  title  of  Illinois  (leneral  Ilosjiital  of  the  Lakes.  On 
the  coin[)letion  of  his  second  course  of  instruction  in  tiie  Rush  Medical 
College,  in  February,  1852,  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  ^ledicinc, 
and  was  acknowledged  as  first  in  the  class  of  graduates  for  that  year. 
During  the  following  summer,  he  also  received  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  fnjni  the  University  of  jNIiehigan.  Soon  after  receiving  his  diploma 
from  the  Medical  College,  he  became  associated  with  Professor  Herrick, 
both  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and  in  the  editorial  management  of  the 
" North w^estern  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,"  and  rose  rapidly  in  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  profession  and  of  the  community.  During 
the  succeeding  winter,  his  health  again  became  seriously  impaired,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  seek  temporarily  a  milder  climate.  He  visited  Louisiana 
and  Mississijipi,  and  was  tendered  a  professorship  in  the  Jefferson  College 
of  Mississij)i)i,  but  declined  its  acceptance,  and  returned  to  Chicago,  with 
improved  health,  in  the  spring  of  1853,  and  resumed  his  duties  as 
practitioner  and  editor.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  he  was 
appointed  Lecturer  on  Physiology  in  the  Rush  Medical  College.  In 
1855,  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics  and 
Medical  Jurisprudence;  and  in  the  summer  of  1857,  he  was  transferred 
to  the  chair  of  Physiology  and  General  Pathology  in  the  same  institution. 
The  duties  imposed  upon  him  in  these  several  relations  to  the  Rush 
Medical  C<tllege  were  discharged  with  superior  ability,  and  to  t\\Q  entire 
satisfaction  of  all  parties  interested;  yet,  owing  to  unsatisfactory  business 
transactions  between  hinl  and  the  late  Dr.  Bralnard,  he  resigned  his 
connection  with  the  Rush  Medical  College  at  the  close  of  the  annual 
session  for  1858-9.  Soon  after  his  resignation,  he  united  with  Doctors 
E.  Andrews,  R.  N.  Isham,  and  the  late  David  Rutter,  in  ett'ccting  the 
organization  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Lind  University,  now 
know-n  as  the  Chicago  Medical  College.  On  the  coni[)letion  of  the  new 
college  organization,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Faculty,  ami 
appointed  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Th<'ra|K'nlics.  The  liillowing 
year,  1860,  he  was  transferred  to  the  chair  of  l*hysiology  and  Histology, 
and  in  1864  to  that  of  General  Pathology  and  Public  Hygiene.  During 
the  winter  of  1864-5,  his  health  entirely  failed,  and  early  in  thc^  spring 
of  1865  he  sailed  for   Europe.     After  s|)ciidiiig  six    months   traveling  in 


232  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

France,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Germany  and  England,  he  returned  home  Avith 
improved  health,  in  time  for  the  opening  of  the  college  term  in  Octol)er, 
1865.  Before  the  close  of  the  term,  however,  it  became  apparent  that  the 
combined  duties  of  an  extensive  practice  and  of  an  active  Professorship 
were  again  rapidly  exhausting  his  vital  energies.  Consequently,  early  in 
the  spring  of  1866,  he  resigned  his  positions  as  President  of  the  Faculty 
and  Professor  of  General  Pathology  and  Public  Hygiene.  His  resig- 
nation was  accepted  with  deep  regret  by  his  colleagues,  and  the  Board  of 
Trustees  immediately  elected  him  President  of  that  body,  and  conferred 
on  him  the  honorary  title  of  Emeritus  Professor  of  General  Pathology 
and  Public  Hygiene.  He  has,  however,  during  the  present  summer  of 
1867,  accepted  an  active  relation  to  the  college,  and  been  appointed  to  the 
Professorship  of  Diseases  of  the  Chest. 

Almost  immediately  after  receiving  his  degree  of  M.  D.,  Dr.  Johnson 
became  an  active  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  the  same 
year,  1852,  was  elected  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Illinois.  Stiitc  Medical 
Society,  which  office  he  filled  the  greater  jxirt  of  the  time  for  six  years. 
In  1858,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  State  Society,  and  in  liis 
valedictory  address,  the  following  year,  he  discussed  at  length  the  impor- 
tance of  "dissections"  as  a  part  of  medical  education,  and  the  necessity 
of  proper  legal  enactments  authorizing  the  same.  As  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Drugs  and  Medicinas,  he  made  an  interesting  report  to  tlie 
same  Society  in  1855.  This  and  the  address  })reviously  mentioned  may 
be  found  in  the  published  transactions  of  the  Society.  In  1854,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  at  the  annual 
meeting  in  New  Haven  in  1860,  he  was  elected  one  of  its  Secretaries. 
From  1852  to  1859,  Dr.  Johnson  was  a  menibi-r  of  the  Board  of  Attend- 
ing Physicians  and  Surgeons  to  the  jNIercy  Hosj)ital  of  Chicago,  and 
discharged  his  duties  with  signal  ability  and  fidelity.  On  his  departure 
for  Europe,  in  the  spring  of  1865,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Delegates 
of  the  American  Medical  Association  to  the  INIedical  and  Scientific  Asso- 
ciations of  Europe.  Though  ardently  devoted  to  his  professional  pursuits. 
Dr.  Johnson  did  not  neglect  other  scientific  and  social  interests.  For 
many  years  he  has  been  a  resident  member  of  the  Cliicago  Historical 
Societ}\ 

He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  and 
its  first  Corresponding  Secretary.  In  1853,  he  became  a  member  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  and  subsequently 


HOSMER   ALLEX   JOHNSON.  233 

Corresponding  Member  of  the  New  Orleans  Academy  of  Sciences.  In 
1853,  he  was  initiated  into  the  Masonic  Order,  and  rapidly  raised  to  the 
_t;nule  of  Master  Mason.  Dnring-  tlie  three  following  years  he  advanced  to 
the  high  orders  of  Masonry,  and  filled  several  important  offices.  In  1855, 
he  was  appointed  Grand  Orator  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois.  His 
oration  was  published  in  the  proceedings  for  that  year.  In  1856,  under 
direction  of  the  proper  authority,  he  organized  the  Grand  Conimandery 
of  Knights  Templar  of  Illinois,  and  for  two  successive  terms  was  the 
first  officer  of  that  body.  He  became  an  active  member  of  the 
Supreme  Council  at  Boston  in  1861,  and  is  now  one  of  the  officers  of 
that  organization. 

In  June,  1861,  Governor  Yates  appointed  Dr.  Johnson  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  for  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Board,  which  was  held  in  Springfield,  June  18,  he 
Avas  elected  President  of  the  Board,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  During  that  time,  he  examined  about  one  thousand 
physician^?  in  reference  to  their  qualifications  for  appointment  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  Army,  repeatedly  visited  the  troops  in  the 
field,  and  while  there  performed  the  active  duties  of  military  surgeon, 
and  tln-oughout  the  whole  time  was  the  chief  medical  adviser  of  the 
Governor  and  Adjutant-General  of  the  State.  By  request  of  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission,  he  visited  the  Department  of  the  South  in 
1863,  and  w^as  present,  by  invitation  of  General  Hunter,  at  Commodore 
Dupont's  attack  on  Fort  Sumter. 

On  the  opening  of  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  in  tlie  winter  of  1865, 
Dr.  Johnson  was  appointed  one  of  the  consulting  physicians,  and  at  this 
writing  has  just  been  appointed  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the  Chicago  Eye 
and  Ear  Infirmary,  and  a  member  of  the  B(jard  of  Health  for  this  city. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  only  fifteen  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  and 
entered  upon  the  stage  of  professional  life,  the  preceding  l)rief  recital  of 
facts  will  show  that  few  have  accomplished  more  in  the  same  length  of 
time,  or  risen  to  a  higher  position  in  the  estimation  both  of  the  profession 
and  the  community  at  large. 

Although  an  expert  in  the  use  of  the  microscope  and  in  the  practice 
of  vivisections  as  apj)]ied  to  physiological  and  |)athological  investigations 
and  teaching,  yet  his  attainments  are  in  no  rt'spect  of  the  specialist 
order.     On  tiie  contrary,  he  possesses  that  ran-  (Miinbination  of  moral  and 


234  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

intellectual  endowments,  Avith  those  general  attainments  in  science  and 
literature,  that  have  enabled  him  to  lill  all  the  varied  and  responsible 
positions  of  public  and  private  life  with  fidelity,  efficiency  and  honor. 

As  a  public  lecturer  and  teacher,  he  has  but  few  equals.  Easy,  fluent, 
earnest,  and  rhetorically  correct,  he  never  fails  to  command  the  attention 
and  to  excite  a  degree  of  enthusiasm  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers.  As 
a  writer,  he  exhibits  equiil  readiness  and  elegance.  His  orations  and 
addresses,  whether  before  Masonic  assemblies,  medical  societies,  literary 
organizations,  or  graduating  classes,  are  models  of  excellence  in  style  and 
of  thought.  As  a  practicing  physician,  he  combines  that  quickness  of 
perception  and  sound  judgment  with  that  gentleness  of  manner  and 
chasteness  of  expression  which  make  him  ever  welcome  to  the  couch  of 
sickness,  and  win  for  him  the  unreserved  confidence  of  the  family  circle. 

Dr.  Johnson  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  Ann  Seward  in  May, 
1855,  and  their  domestic  life  has  been  cheered  by  the  presence  of  two 
children,  a  son  and  daughter.  As  a  husband,  father,  citizen,  and 
Christian,  he  is  without  reproach. 


A.  HALSEY  MILLER, 


Our  coiintiy  is  remarkable  for  the  early  development  of  its  people; 
and  this  is  especially  noticeable  among  the  prominent  and  successful 
business  men  of  Chicago.  The  battle  of  life,  in  this  city,  is  a  strugoje  in 
which  a  man's  native  qualities  are  speedily  and  sharply  tested;  and, 
unless  they  are  of  sterling  excellence,  he  must  soon  give  place  to  others. 
Keen  wit,  shrewd  business  talent,  bold  enterprise,  and  pertinacioas 
endeavor,  alone  avail  to  carry  the  contestant  successfully  tiirough  the  strife. 
But  no  field  offers  greater  opportunities,  or  richer  rewards,  to  those  who 
enter  it  with  the  elements  of  character  requisite  for  success.  And  of  those 
citizens  who  have  won  honorable  names  amongst  our  business  men,  none 
so  worthily  merit  these  distinctions  as  those  young  men  who  came  to  tin; 
city  with  little  other  capital  than  their  own  skill  and  energy,  and  bravely 
entering  the  lists  for  wealth  and  rejjutation,  have  conquered  adverse 
circumstances,  and  fairly  reached  the  quiet  highway  of  j)rosperity.  AVhile 
we  honor  those  old  citizens — the  pioneers  who  first  laid  the  foundations  of 
our  city's  greatness — let  us  not  forget  those  Avho  came  after  them,  and  by 
tlicir  indefatigable  effort,  and  brilliant  enterprise,  have  demonstrated  that 
the  path  to  fortune  is  no  royal  road,  to  l)e^  trod  only  by  a  llivored  few, 
but  open  to  all  who  dare  to  assume  the  I'isks  and  overcome  the  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  entering  it.  Weal.th  is  as  readily,  and  oiteii  as  rapidly 
obtaineil  by  legitimate  business  as  by  ioi-timale  ^|leelll:llions  ;  and  those 
whose  shrewd  appreciation  of  the  glorious  future  before  Chicago  led  ihem 
to  fortune  by  availing  themselves  of  the  vast  and  rapid  rise  in  real  estat<', 
by  no  means  take  ])reeedenee  of  those  who,  more  than  all  others,  have 
helped  to  realize  (Ills  liiture  by  patient  and  persistent  effort  in  the  regidar 
channels  of  business. 


236  BIOGEAPHICAl.   SKETCHES. 

A.  H.  JNIiLLER  has  long  been  eonspicuous  among  that  class  of 
business  men  wlio  have  achieved  wealtli  and  reputation  by  tlieir  own 
unflagging  energy,  inspired  by  enterprise,  integrity,  and  native  intellectual 
clearness. 

Coming  to  Chicago  when  the  ibundations  of  its  greatness  were  already 
laid,  he  did  not,  as  have  many  older  citizens,  "grow"  into  wealth  upon 
the  enterprise  of  others,  through  the  natural  rise  of  real  estate — merely 
drifting  with  tlie  current — but  has  manfull}'  struggled  and  conquered, 
relying  only  upon  his  clear  brain  and  skilll'ul  hand.  He  is  one  of  the 
younger  men  whose  tact  and  energy  have  furnished  the  propelling  power 
which  has  carried  the  metropolis  of  the  NortliMcst  to  its  present  proud 
position  among  the  cities  of  the  world,  making  rich  its  old  and  large 
property  owners. 

Mr.  Miller  is  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  having  been  born  in  Westfield, 
Essex  County,  where  liis  father  and  ])atcrnal  grandfiither  were  larmers. 
Both  his  parents  are  still  living,  and  the  family  circle,  completed 
by  nine  children,  of  whom  A.  IT.  is  the  eUlest  son,  is  yet  unbroken. 
Mr.  Miller,  at  an  early  age,  found  his  tastes  incompatible  with  agricultural 
pursuits,  and  having  obtained  an  ordinarily  fair  education  at  the  village 
school,  apprenticed  himself  to  learn  the  manufacturing  jewelry  business 
in  the  estal)lishment  of  Taylor  t^'  Ball,  in  Newark,  New  Jersey.  Two 
years  after  Mr.  INIiller  entered  their  establishment,  the  senior  partner, 
INIr.  Taylor,  died,  and  a  new  co-partnership  was  formed,  under  the  style 
of  H.  W.  Ball  ct  Co.  Upon  the  completi(>n  of  his  ap])renticeship,  in 
1852,  Mr.  Miller  commenced  business  on  his  own  account,  in  Newark, 
in  partnership  with  his  brother  nex.t  in  age  to  himself.  They  fitted  up 
a  small  store  in  plain  style,  adding  a  department  for  the  manufacture  of 
jewelry,  and,  after  paying  for  their  outfit,  found  themselves  possessed  of  a 
capital  of  precisely  one  hundred  dollars;  but  by  industry  and  strict 
attention  to  business  they  prospered  satisfactorily,  and  in  1856  admitted 
a  third  brother  into  the  concern. 

Stories  of  the  marvelous  growth  of  Chicago  having  reached  their  ears, 
they  came  here  at  once,  and  opened  an  establishment  under  the  ^Marine 
Bank  building,  at  the  corner  of  Lake  and  La  Salle  streets,  under  the 
name  of  A.  H.  Miller  c^-^  Bros.,  still  maintaining  their  house  at  Newark. 
Although  commencing  here  with  a  very  limited  capital,  their  skill,  good 
taste  and  careful  attention  to  business  supplied  the  place  of  abundant 
means.      In    less   than   a   year,   finding    that   their    business    demanded 


I 


A,    IIALSEY    MII-Li:W,  237 

enlarged  acfoniiiKKlatious,  tlioy  rciiiDVcd  to  tlie  citnicr  ol'  Lake  mul  ( 'lark 
streets,  Mliere  tlio  linn  coiitiimcd  to  add  l<t  its  rcpiitaiidii  and  prosperity 
until  the  year  ISIJO,  wIk'h  the  |)artiicr>lii|»  expired  i)y  limitation  and  the 
senior  partner  e(»ntinned  the  business  in  his  own  name  and  on  his  sole 
account. 

In  1862,  he  eomplotely  remodi'led  his  store,  giving  it  a  new  and  more 
attractive  front,  and  making  many  advantageous  alterations  in  its  interior. 

The  reputation  of  the  house  soon  enabled  Mr.  Miller  to  gratify  his 
long-cherished  desire  of  erecting  a  building  of  his  own,  which,  in  its 
exterior,  should  be  creditable  to  his  taste  and  an  architectural  ornament 
to  the  city,  and  the  interior  of  which  should  be  constructed  with  especial 
adaptation  to  his  business.  In  1864,  he  secured  the  property  at  the 
corner  of  Clark  and  Randolph  streets,  then  covered  with  a  large, 
unsightly  wooden  structure,  whereon  he  reared  the  elegant  marble  build- 
ing with  \\hich  his  name  is  now  associated.  This  was  one  of  the  first 
business  houses  in  the  city  to  which  the  beautiful  INIansard  roof  was 
applied,  now  so  frequently  seen  in  Chicago.  Its  rich  interior  fittings 
throughout  are  of  Chicago  workmanship,  from  Mr.  Miller's  own  devices, 
executed  in  rich  native  woods.  The  show-cases  and  counters  are  marvels 
of  beauty  and  convenience.  The  counter-cases  are  the  largest  ever  made 
here,  and  have  won  the  admiration  of  even  Mr.  Miller's  rivals  in  trade. 
They  are  constructed  of  single  sheets  of  glass  mounted  in  rich  silver  plate. 
The  ui)right  cases,  in  carved  wood,  relieved  with  superb  bronzes,  the 
elaborate  and  costly  safes,  and  the  rich  gas-fixtures,  were  all  made 
expressly  from  designs  furnished  by  Mr.  Miller  as  parts  and  adjuncts 
of  a  harmonious  whole.  Not  the  minutest  detail  of  the  structiu-e  or  its 
appointments  escaped  his  supervising  eye;  and  not  until  the  whole  Avas 
c'omplete  did  he  rest  from  the  task  that  embodies  the  study  of  years  and 
the  actual  labor  of  months. 

This  store  was  occupied  in  May,  I860,  and  is  known  everywhere  as 
one  of  the  finest  and  most  complete  jewelry  establishments  in  tin;  entire 
country. 

Up  to  this  time,  Mr.  Miller  had  probably  ibnnd  no  leisure,  among  the 
multitudinoiLS  details  of  trade,  to  cultivate  the  tender  |)assion  ;  l)iit,  being 
tiius  fully  and  |)rospcrously  establisheil  in  his  own  domicile,  and  with  an 
increasing  business,  he  lacked  but  the  sympathy  and  companionship  of  a 
loving  heart  to  complete  and  conlirm  his  happiness.  In  July,  1865,  he 
was    united    in    mai'i'iage   to    Miss    Mary   Morgan,  of   Chicago,   when    he 


238  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

prnceoded  to  Europe  upon  a  bridal  tour,  duriui^-  the  course  of  which,  ever 
mindful  of  the  requirements  of  business,  he  established  connections  in 
Geneva,  Paris,  and  elsewhere,  through  Avliich  he  secured  facilities  for  the 
importation  of  choice  and  beautiful  goods.  His  wares  are  manufactured 
by  the  most  experienced  and  tasteful  workmen  of  Switzerland,  Italy  and 
France,  expressly  for  his  cases,  and  bearing  his  name. 

Nor  has  Mr.  Miller  let  slip  from  his  present  business  the  advantage 
of  his  prestige  and  experience  as  a  manufacturer  of  jewelry.  The  upper 
floor  of  his  elegant  building  is  fitted  up  as  a  complete  manufacturing 
establishment,  with  the  best  appliances  and  the  most  skillful  workmen. 
Some  of  the  most  elegant  and  costly  jewelry  and  presentation  goods 
known  in  this  market  for  several  years  past  have  been  the  product  of  this 
portion  of  his  premises. 

His  establishment,  by  thus  furnishing  only  the  finest  goods,  made  lor 
himself  or  under  his  own  eye,  has  ac(piired  a  reputation  throughout  the 
country  which  is  a  guarantee  at  once  of  past  upriglitness  and  future 
prosperity. 

Mr.  Miller  has  not  reached  his  present  distinction  by  the  caprice  of 
fortune,  or  what  men  call  "good  luck,"  but  by  his  thorough  knowledge 
of  business,  by  persevering  energy,  and  unwavering  integrity.  His 
profession  deiuands  an  artistic  and  cultivated  taste,  which  he  possesses  in 
an  eminent  degree;  but  he  owes  his  fortune  mainly  to  his  close  and 
persistent  attention  to  legitimate  business.  Never  dazzled  by  the 
prospects  of  lucky  speculation,  he  has  toiled  on  energetically,  devoting 
frequently  eighteen  hours  out  of  twenty-four  to  laying  the  foundations  of 
the  splendid  trade  he  now  enjoys.  In  this  respect,  as  well  as  others,  he 
furnishes  an  admiral)le  example  and  model  to  young  men  just  starting 
out  in  life,  demonstrating  that  unswerving  honesty,  close  and  uuM'caried 
attention  to  business,  added  to  an  invincible  energy,  cannot  fail  to  be 
rewarded  with  rich  success. 


GRANT   GOODRICH. 


Gkant  Goodrich  was  born  Aiisrnst  7,  1812,  in  the  town  of  IMilton, 
Saratoga  County,  New  York.  Jlis  lather's  name  was  Gideon,  and  his 
mother's  Eunice,  nee  Eunice  Warren,  who  emigrated  when  young  from 
Weathersficld,  Connecticut,  to  Saratoga. 

His  iiither  was  a  tanner  and  farmer,  and  followed  tliese  occupations  in 
Saratoga  until  he  removed,  in  1816,  to  Ripley,  Chautauqua  County,  New 
York,  Avhere  he  purchased  considerable  tracts  of  land,  on  which  six  of  Iiis 
sons  were  settled,  two  of  whom  only  survived.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  the  youngest  of  twelve  children.  His  father  was  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  public  spirit,  and  was  especially  active  in  the  i)romotion  of 
educaticju.  He  always  enjoyed  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  neighbors, 
and  represented  the  county  of  Saratoga  in  the  Legislature  of  New  York. 

When  the  iamily  removed  to  Chautauqua  County,  it  was  a  new 
country,  and  no  district  schools  were  establislied.  His  father  had  a 
school  taught  in  his  own  house  two  winters,  which  was  attended  by  his 
own  and  a  few  of  t]\e  neighbors'  children. 

At  the  age  of  ton,  his  health  being  delicate,  Grant  was  sent  to  live 
with  a  sister  at  Westfield,  Aviiere  he  attended  school  and  studied  Latin 
with  a  lawyer  by  the  name  of  Centre.  In  his  youth  he  had  a  i)a.ssion  for 
the  sea.  When  he  was  fifteen,  liis  father  removed  to  Portland  Harbor — 
now  Barcelona — on  Lake  Erie,  and  built  a  warehouse  and  |)ier,  to 
establish  his  brother  in  business.  The  family  was  predis|)Osed  to  con- 
sumption, and  two  of  the  brothel's  had  died  of  that  disease.  lie  was 
attacked  with  all  the  s;v'mptoms.  Having  lut  faith  in  ])hysicians,  he 
made  a  trip  on  his  brothei"'s  vessel,  and,  receiving  immediate  relief,  he 
continued  on  the  Lakes,  thereby  securing  vigorous  health.     The  romance 


240  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  a  sailor's  life  having  worn  away,  he  determined  to  devote  himself  to 
the  legal  profession,  and  after  attending  the  academy  at  Westfield  for  two 
years  and  a  half,  he  entered  the  office  of  Messrs.  Dixon  &  Smith  as  a 
student-at-law,  where  he  remained  until  April,  1834,  when  he  started  for 
Chicago,  where  he  arrived  in  May. 

In  company  with  another  young  man,  he  made  the  claim  to  the  laud 
where  Warrenville,  Du  Page  County,  now  stands,  but  sold  it,  and  spent 
some  time  in  traveling  through  the  State.  On  his  return  to  Chicago, 
he  opened  an  office,  and  shortly  after  formed  a  copartnership  with 
A.  N.  Fullerton.  The  firm  bought  and  sold  property,  and  made  consid- 
erable money.  In  the  summer  of  1835,  he  dissolved  his  business 
relations  with  Mr.  Fullerton,  and  in  November  formed  a  copartnership 
with  the  late  Judge  Spring,  which  continued  until  shortly  preceding  his 
election  to  the  judgeship. 

Most  of  the  people  here  then  were  young  men,  and  in  1835  a  great 
rush  of  immigrants  and  capitalists  took  place  to  Chicago.  All  who  owned 
or  could  buy  land,  made  money  and  wore  esteemed  rich.  There  was  great 
fraternity  of  feeling  among  all  classes,  and  confidence  in  the  responsi- 
bility and  integrity  of  each  other,  and  when  the  crash  of  1837  came, 
Mr.  Goodrich  was  unfortunately  on  a  very  large  amount  of  paper  for 
others.  At  that  time  he  owned  a  large  amount  of  property,  but  it  was 
entirely  swept  away  by  judgments  for  security  debts,  and  wlien  all  was 
gone,  there  still  remained  a  large  amount  unpaid.  He  was  urged  to  take 
the  benefit  of  the  bankrupt  law,  but  determined  to  pay  his  obligations,  and 
labored  for  eighteen  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  liquidate  these  debts, 
both  principal  and  interest.  From  1851  to  1857,  his  practice  was  very 
large  and  profitable,  but  from  excessive  labor  his  health  failed,  and  he 
went  abroad  in  1858  to  seek  its  recovery  and  was  successful. 

With  his  valuable  services  as  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  the  readers 
of  this  sketch  are  familiar.  Politically  he  was  a  Whig  until  1848,  when 
he  voted  for  Van  Buren,  the  Free-soil  candidate.  Until  1860  he  was  very 
prominent  and  active  in  the  political  affiiirs  of  the  country,  took  an  active 
part  in  the  canvass  of  1840,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Bloomington  Con- 
vention when  the  Republican  ])arty  was  formed.  In  his  political  principles 
he  was  always  positive,  radical,  unflinching,  and  an  ardent  lover  of  freedom. 

In  July,  1836,  Mr.  Goodrich  married  the  daughter  of  Amos  Atwater, 
of  Westfield,  New  York,  by  whom  he  has  had  five  children — four  boys 
and  one  sirl.    He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  since  1831. 


CHARLES   G.   SMITH. 


Chicaoo  is  a  p^reat  city,  but  her  2;reatness  consists  not  nearly  so  much 
in  the  area  inclosed  by  her  municipal  boundaries,  or  the  numerical  aggre- 
gate of  her  population,  as  in  the  fact  that  she  is  the  focus  of  the  Northwest, 
the  receiving  and  distributing  point  where  centralize  the  energies  and 
wants  of  the  millions  of  people  who  live  beyond.  The  men  who  have  so 
successfully  labored  through  a  long  course  of  years  to  bring  about  this 
result  are  the  true  benefactors  of  Chicago.  To  bring  hither  the  products 
of  the  whole  world  outside  of  the  Northwest,  to  show  to  the  people  that 
they  could  be  served  here  with  as  good  material,  as  varied  selections,  as 
new  styles,  and  at  as  moderate  prices,  as  at  the  East,  saving  the  cost  and 
the  risk  of  carriage,  and  the  time  and  expense  of  journeys  thither,  was  to 
do  a  great  part  of  the  work  of  building  up  our  city. 

The  trade  in  drugs  is  immense.  AVithin  a  few  years  it  has  risen  from 
nothing  to  the  prominence  it  now  0('cuj)i<'s.  The  wholesale  drug  mer- 
chants of  Chicago  now  sup})ly  the  2)hysic  and  perfumery  of  the  great 
AVest,  and  subserve  a  large  portion  of  many  other  wants.  This  fact  is 
largely  due  to  the  exertions  of  one  man,  who  is  noted  as  having  done  more 
than  most  others  to  extend  the  business  of  the  city,  by  showing  to  the 
people  of  the  surrounding  country  that  they  could  rely  on  the  integrity 
of  C'hicago  merchants  to  serve  them  with  whatever  they  require,  and  on 
their  enterprise  for  offering  better  facilities  than  could  be  found  elsewhere. 

Ciiari.es  G.  Smith  was  born  in  Nelson,  Madison  County,  New  York, 
July  23, 1831.  His  father,  George  Smith,  was  a  native  of  Orange  County, 
New  York,  his  grandfather  having  emigrated  from  Scotland  to  that 
county  in  early  manhood,  and  there  married  into  a  highly  respectable 
family.     His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Judge  Lyon,  of  Nelson,  one  of 


242  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  earliest  settlers  in  the  township.  The  American  ancestors  of  Mr. 
Smith  were  all  farmers^  and  both  of  his  grandfathers  served  with  honor 
in  the  Revolutionary  AYar.  They  were  among  the  most  highly  respected 
members  of  the  community,  of  the  strictest  integrity,  and  always  acted 
from  a  high  sense  of  justice. 

When  ]\Ir.  Smith  was  five  years  old  his  father  died,  leaving  him,  the 
youngest  of  seven  children,  to  struggle  through  the  world  without  the 
advantage  of  paternal  aid  or  counsel.  The  widow's  task  was  no  ordinary 
one,  but  she  undertook  it  bravely.  She  sold  the  farm,  and  removed  to 
Cazenovia  that  she  might  secure  to  her  children  a  better  education  than 
was  possible  at  their  birth-place.  After  a  stay  of  rather  more  than  a  year 
there,  she,  by  the  advice  of  friends,  removed  to  the  western  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  greater  portion  of  Mr.  Smith's  early  life  was 
spent  in  the  town  of  Ruthford,  Alleghany  County. 

Those  early  years  were  spent  to  good  purpose.  His  only  educational 
advantages  were  those  offered  in  the  village  schools  of  that  early  day,  but 
the  existing  lack  was  more  than  supplied  by  an  insatiable  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  a  determination  to  acquire  everything  that  lay  within  his 
mental  reach.  Every  spare  moment  was  devoted  to  reading  and  writing, 
his  object  being,  especially,  to  perfect  himself  in  business  qualifications. 
Multitudinous  scraps  of  paper,  covered  Avitli  business  forms  and  penman- 
ship studies,  attested  his  devotion.  His  whole  boyish  ambition  was 
centered  on  this  one  goal,  and  while  other  boys  played  or  slept  he  was 
engaged  in  preparing  himself  to  step  out  into  tlie  busy  world,  and  take 
his  place  as  one  able  to  compete  for  the  prize  of  business  success. 

His  oldest  brother  had  removed  to  Chicago,  and,  in  the  summer  of 
1849,  procured  for  him  a  clerkship  in  the  drug  store  of  Mr.  L.  M.  Boyce. 
Before  the  removal  could  be  effected,  Mr.  Boyce  died  of  cholera,  and  the 
establishment  was  bought  by  the  firm  of  Sears  &  Bay.  Mr.  Smith  com- 
menced his  apprenticeship  to  the  drug  business  under  them,  his  advent  in 
Chicago  being  made  in  October,  1849.  At  this  time  the  entire  jobbing 
drug  trade  of  the  city  did  not  amount  to  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  per  year,  but  as  the  population  of  the  country  increased,  and  the 
means  of  communication  with  the  great  West  beyond  were  extended,  this 
branch  of  business  grew  with  corresponding  rapidity.  Six  years  thereafter, 
in  1855,  it  had  increased  ten  fold,  amounting  to  at  least  one  million  of 
dollars. 

]Mr.  Smith  very  soon  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  business,  and  gained 


CHARLES   G.   SMITH.  243 

tlie  confidence  of  his  employers  by  his  strict  attention  to  business,  and  his 
unremitting  regard  iur  their  interests.  On  tlie  retirement  of  INIr,  Bay 
from  the  firm,  in  the  year  1852,  he  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  liead 
clerk.  During  this  time  he  attended  Bell's  Commercial  College.  On  the 
first  of  January,  1854,  he  became  a  partner  in  tlie  firm,  assuming  the 
l)lace  vacated  by  Mr.  Bay.  The  business  was  henceforth  conducted  under 
the  firm  name  of  Sears  &  Smith,  they  occupying  the  same  store  as 
previously,  No.  113  Lake  street.  During  the  first  year  of  the  partnership, 
the  business  doubled,  and  the  opportunity  for  trade  extension  appearing  to 
be  good,  they,  in  February,  1855,  took  into  the  firm  Mr.  Edwin  Burnham, 
now  the  senior  partner  in  the  firm  of  Burnham  &  Van  Schaack.  This 
partnership,  under  the  name  of  Sears,  Smith  &  Co.,  continued  for  two 
years,  when  Mr.  Sears  retired,  and  the  business  was  contmued  by 
the  remaining  partners,  under  the  firm  name  of  Burnham  &  Smith,  a 
removal  being  efl'ected  to  No.  23  Lake  street.  This  place  was  held  for 
three  years,  when  the  growing  demands  of  the  business  imperatively 
called  fitr  more  room.  A  removal  was  made  to  No.  IG  Lake  street,  which 
place  was  held  until  March,  18G4,  when  the  firm  was  dissolved,  and  Mr. 
Smith  established  liim>^elf  alone  at  No.  259  South  Water  street,  pending 
the  erection  of  the  spacious  edifice  he  now  occupies,  for  the  building  of 
which  he  had  contracted  with  Hon,  J,  Y.  Scammon. 

January  1,  1866,  Messrs.  C.  Henry  Cutler  and  Henry  T.  West  became 
his  })artners.  The  business,  now  conducted  under  the  firm  name  of  Smith, 
Cutler  &  Co.,  has  attained  to  mammoth  proportions.  As  a  continuation 
of  one  of  the  oldest  wholesale  houses  in  the  city,  and  a  pioneer  in  its 
branch  of  trade,  the  firm  occupies  a  really  commanding  position  among  its 
fellows,  transacting  the  lion's  share  of  the  exclusively  Avholesale  drug 
trade  of  our  city,  which,  for  the  year  1866,  amounted  to  between  five  and 
six  millions  of  dollars,  and  now  extends  over  twelve  different  States  and 
Territories. 

Mr.  Smith's  business  motto  has  always  been,  "deal  honorably  with  all." 
He  has  always  endeavored  to  prevent  the  introduction  into  the  trade  of 
inferior  (jualities  of  goods,  and  has  uniformly  exercised  the  utmost  care  to 
secure  the  purity  of  drugs  purchased  by  him.  He  has  aimed  all  through 
his  business  life  to  merit  the  confidence  of  his  patrons,  and  to  so  deal  with 
them  that  they  shall  at  least  be  satisfied  that  they  cannot  do  better  else- 
where in  the  future.  Among  all  those  whose  strict  business  integrity  has 
won  so  honorable  a  name  lor  the  merchants  of  Chicago,  none  has  dooe 


244  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

more  than  Mr.  Smith.  Tliis  conscientious  business  trait  is  but  the  legiti- 
mate sequel  to  the  youthful  manifestations  of  his  character  in  the  family. 
He  was  always  thoughtful  and  amiable,  kind  and  considerate,  in  the 
family  of  his  mother  as  in  that  which  has  been  raised  around  him  in  his 
maturer  years. 

Mr.  Smith  was  married  January  7,  1855,  to  Annie  E.  Cooper,  of 
Peoria.  She  died  January  17,  1861,  leaving  Im^o  daughters,  aged  respec- 
tively eight  and  ten  years.  August  16,  1866,  he  married  Eliza  L.  White, 
of  Cincinnati,  his  present  wife. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  his  attention  was  directed  to  the 
subject  of  his  religious  duties.  His  mother  being  a  Baptist,  he  joined  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  this  city,  and  for  two  years  the  greater  part  of 
his  time  not  devoted  to  his  business  was  occupied  in  the  study  of  theology. 
He,  however,  became  dissatisfied  with  the  Baptist  faith,  being  persuaded 
that  it  was  too  indefinite  for  him.  His  partner,  Mr.  John  Sears,  was  a 
member  of  the  New  Jerusalem  Church,  and  conversation  Mith  him  and 
the  reading  of  "  New  Church "  books  enabled  him  to  solve  many  doubts 
that  he  had  previously  entertained  on  doctrinal  points.  A  thorough  inves- 
tigation of  the  teachings  of  the  New  Church  resulted  in  convincing  him  of 
their  truth,  and,  in  the  year  1853,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
the  New  Jerusalem,  worshiping  in  the  Temple  on  Adams  street,  near  the 
Lake,  with  which  he  is  still  in  communion.  The  writings  of  Swedenborg, 
in  particular,  made  a  profound  impression  on  his  mind,  and  M'ere  very 
influential  in  moulding  his  character. 

Mr.  Smith  is  one  of  our  most  highly  respected  citizens.  He  has 
never  tried  to  make  a  "noise  in  the  world,"  being  simple  and  unobtrusive 
in  his  manner,  but  he  has  wielded  an  influence  which  has  been  very  widely 
felt  in  the  past,  and  is  now  as  potent  as  ever.  His  business  abilities  are 
universally  recognized  as  of  the  highest  order,  and  his  judgment,  although 
he  is  yet  a  young  man,  is  regarded  as  almost  infallible  in  all  matters  to 
which  he  has  directed  his  attention.  He  is  a  man  of  strong  will,  but 
mild  in  expression,  and  never  forgets  a  friend. 


PETER  SCHUTTIER. 


Intelligent  exertion  is  the  elevating  force  of  society.  Brain  and 
muscle,  the  two  great  elements  of  capital,  are  the  true  accumulators  of 
wealth,  but,  like  their  progeny — pecuniary  capital — they  are  valuable 
only  when  employed.  Money  locked  in  the  coffer,  muscle  unused,  brain 
inactive,  are  not  productive ;  they  fail  to  execute  their  mission.  The 
grand  law  of  nature,  and  the  order  of  the  sidewalk — "  keep  moving " — 
must  be  obeyed  if  we  would  be  great  or  happy.  The  abilities  of  two  men 
being  equal,  he  who  Avorks  most  achieves  most,  and  the  true  Hercules  of 
modern  advancement  is  not  onlv  the  embodiment  of  streno-th,  but  of  con- 
tinual  activity,  finding  relaxation  in  change  of  employment.  The  living 
exponents  of  this  principle  are  all  hard  workers. 

The  great  West  is  especially  fruitful  in  examples  of  this,  the  genius 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Her  i)rairies  have  been  tilled,  her  ■wide 
expanse  banded  by  the  iron  road  and  the  thought-throbbing  Mire,  her 
mines  explored,  her  forces  utilized,  and  treasures  appropriated,  by  hard 
work,  directed  by  intelligent  brains.  It  is  this  persistent,  ceaseless 
activity,  rapid  in  its  transformations  as  the  fiiiry's  touch,  which  in  a  few 
years  has  made  the  wilderness  to  blossom  as  the  garden  of  Paradise,  and 
in  one  generation  raised  a  city  site  from  the  slough,  and  extended  the 
fame  of  Chicago  industry  and  enterprise  to  every  spot  covered  by  the 
migrations  of  two  score  centuries. 

The  name  of  Peter  Schu'itler  stands  out  prominently  :uii<inu-  those 
whose  owners  have  built  up  for  themselves  fortunes,  and  Hir  (liicML^o  her 
reputation.  Schuttler's  wagons  are  used  all  over  tiie  United  States  and 
Territories,  and  have  materially  aided  in  the  settlement  of  the  i\\v  West. 
The    large,   substantial    brick   factory  on    the   corner  of   Ranth)lph   and 


246  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Franklin  streets,  filled  with  the  most  improved  mjichinery,  swarming 
with  busy  workmen,  and  surrounded  by  newly-painted  wagons,  has  been 
pointed  to  proudly  thousands  of  times,  as  the  fruits  of  one  man's  physical 
and  mental  effort,  unaided  by  any  capital  save  the  gradual  accumulations 
of  his  own  labor.  Tlie  honored  architect  of  these  fortunes  departed  from 
among  us  but  as  yesterday ;  his  son  now  holds  the  reins ;  a  worthy  aid  in 
the  past,  a  double  i)ortion  of  his  father's  spirit  has  fallen  upon  him. 

Peter  Schuttler  was  born  September  19,  1841,  in  Sandusky,  Ohio,  in 
which  place  he  passed  the  first  two  years  of  his  existence. 

His  father,  the  late  Peter  Schuttler,  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Wachenheim,  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  Germany, 
December  22,  1812,  and  immigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1834,  at  a 
time  when  steam  traveling  lacilities  were  unknown.  He  performed  the 
journey  to  Havre  by  wagon,  much  as  the  pioneer  emigrant  has  done  in 
this  country  at  a  later  period.  His  sea  voyage  was  a  tedious  one, 
occupying  fifty-four  days,  and  bofi)re  it  was  ended  provisions  had  become 
so  scarce  that  Mr.  Schuttler  ])aid  five  francs  for  a  piece  of  "hard  tack." 
Arriving  at  New  York  city,  he  struck  out  for  the  interior,  and  settled 
down  within  five  miles  of  Buffalo,  where  he  was  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  a  situation  in  a  wagon  shop,  receiving  the  munificent  sura  of  seven 
dollars  per  month  and  board,  the  value  of  the  latter  item  of  compensation 
being  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  he  was  often  obliged  to  go  out  to  the 
fields  and  hunt  for  })otatocs  to  satisfy  his  hunger.  His  inventive  genius 
soon  showed  itself  in  the  sul)stitution  of  the  saw  for  the  axe  in  cutting 
out  gearing,  thus  affording  a  great  saving  of  time  and  material.  He  staid 
there  about  a  year,  and  then  removed  to  Cleveland  and  worked  at  the 
same  business  for  about  six  months,  when  he  was  attacked  by  typhoid 
fever,  from  which  he  recovered  only  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  year.  He 
then  commenced  business  for  himself  in  Cleveland,  his  capital  being  a 
very  small  one.  He  worked  along  for  about  a  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  found  himself  with  a  large  stock  of  sleighs  on  his  hands,  and  no 
buyers.  He  was  obliged  to  give  up  business,  and  left  Cleveland  to  seek 
his  fortune  elsewhere. 

He  went  to  Sandusky,  with  ten  shillings  in  his  j)Ocket  as  his  entire 
capital.  He  applied  for  a  situation,  obtained  permission  to  put  up  a 
bench,  procured  an  order  for  provisions,  and  went  to  work.  He  labored 
with  a  will,  and  by  dint  of  constant  toil,  filing  saws,  etc.,  in  the  evenings, 
after  his  daily  task  was  done,  he  managed  to  save  up  between  three  and 


PETER    SCHUTTLER.  247 

four  hundred  dollars.  He  staid  there  six  years,  married  to  Miss  Dorothy 
Gtuieh,  a  native  of  Prussia,  and  had  two  children  born  to  him — Catharine 
and  Peter,  He  remained  there  till  1843,  Avhen  work  began  to  grow 
scarce,  and  he  packed  all  his  worldly  goods  in  a  one-horse  wagon,  started 
across  tlie  prairies  to  one  of  the  lake  ports,  and  landed  in  Chicago  by 
steamer. 

His  first  impressions  of  the  Garden  City  were  far  from  being  pleasant. 
He  found  thirteen  wagon  shops  here,  all  full  of  Eastern  vehicles,  and  was 
disheartened.  He  visited  "  Little  Fort "  (now  Waukegan),  walking  the 
whole  distance  there  and  back  in  one  day.  That  j)lace  was  what  the 
Portuguese  called  America — Ca-nada — "  here  nothing."  He  took  courage 
from  a  remark  made  by  'Squire  Berdel,  that  Avhere  there  were  so  many, 
there  was  room  for  one  more.  He  made  the  frame-works  of  several 
w^agons,  which  were  ironed  on  shares  by  P.  W.  Gates  and  others.  He 
then  built  a  brewery  with  his  own  hands,  and  commenced  to  run  it  in 
partnership  with  his  father-in-law,  but  the  first  brewing  Avas  a  failure, 
and  jNIr.  Schuttler  M'ithdrew  from  the  firm,  resolving  never  again  to 
meddle  with  any  trade  but  that  of  wagon  making.  He  rented  a  lot  on 
Randolph  street,  near  the  present  site  of  the  works,  on  the  corner  of 
Franklin,  and  commenced  alone,  de  novo.  For  a  long  time  he  averaged 
eighteen  hours  per  day,  working  on  shares,  as  before,  living  in  a  board 
shanty  in  the  rear  of  his  one-story  shop.  He  had  soon  progressed  so  far 
that  he  became  the  employer  of  one  woodworker,  then  of  another,  and 
finally  hired  a  blacksmith  and  helper,  and  thenceforward  built  his  wagons 
without  outside  aid.  Every  operation  was  at  first  performed  by  hand, 
but  Mr.  Schuttler  soon  invented  a  lathe,  and  this  was  quickly  followed  by 
other  machinery,  Avhich  was  propelled  by  horse-power.  In  a  few  years 
he  liad  })rogressed  so  fiist  that  an  eight-horse  engine  was  required  to  drive 
the  works. 

An  extension  Avas  demanded  by  his  rapidly  increasing  business,  and  in 
1845  he  Avas  offered  a  lot  on  Canal  street,  near  Washington,  on  very 
favorable  terms,  but  sensibly  ])referred  to  stay  Avhere  he  Avas  doing  Avell. 
In  1847  to  '49,  J.  M.  Van  Osdel  erected  for  him  his  first  brick  shop, 
forty  by  seventy  feet,  and  four  stories  high,  and  in  this  he  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  buggies,  carriages,  harness,  etc.,  having  previously  con- 
fined himself  to  Avagon  making.  He  rented  a  portion  of  liis  Avooden 
building,  and  used  the  other  as  a  repository.  His  business  increased 
each  year  till  1850,  Avhen  everything  except  the  brick  shop  was  buint  to 


248  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  ground,  and,  the  insurance  companies  failing  to  pay  the  losses,  he  was 
again  almost  ruined.  Witli  characteristic  energy,  he  soon  righted  himself, 
but  he  took  such  a  dislike  to  insurance  companies  that  he  never  afterwards 
took  out  a  jjolicy. 

On  the  11th  of  June,  in  this  year,  his  son  Henry  was  born.  He  is 
now  obtaining  a  thorough  education  at  a  school  in  Sing  Sing,  Xew  York, 
where  he  is  to  remain  until  of  age.  This,  with  Catharine  and  Peter, 
constitute  all  the  children  born  to  him,  with  the  exception  of  a  lovely 
little  child,  named  Rosa,  Avho  died  when  two  years  old. 

From  this  time  he  prospered  without  serious  interruption.  He  gave 
up  the  manufacture  of  carriages,  and  devoted  his  attention  exclusively 
to  wagons,  procuring  new  machinery',  most  of  which  he  fixed  himself,  and 
thenceforward  manufactured  everything  from  the  raw  material.  The 
demand  increased  rapidly,  and  his  vehicles  soon  displaced  the  old  prairie 
schooners,  till  then  in  iniiversal  use.  In  1855,  the  fame  of  his  Avagons 
had  reached  the  Mormons,  and,  after  trying  otiiers,  they  bought  a  lot  of 
thirty-five  from  him,  warranted  to  carry  3,500  pounds  each  across  the 
plains.  The  wagons  were  loaded  to  that  extent,  and  reached  Salt  Lake  in 
as  good  condition  as  when  they  started.  This  secured  him  their  trade,  his 
wagons  commanding  a  premium  of  fifty  dollars  over  others  offered.  He 
never  found  any  but  fair  dealing  with  the  Mormons,  who  were  henceforth 
his  best  customers,  though  his  wagons  were  bought  largely  by  St.  Louis 
firms  for  the  traffic  across  the  plains. 

Up  to  the  year  1856,  Mr.  Schuttler  worked  at  the  bench  daily,  kept 
his  own  books,  made  his  own  sales,  and  directed  the  movements  of  forty 
workmen.  It  then  became  necessary  to  share  this  labor,  but  he  continued 
as  active  as  ever.  His  business  kept  on  increasing,  till  the  average  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  wagons  per  week  was  reached :  they  now  make 
one  hundred  and  twenty  weekly.  These  wagons  are  all  used  in  the 
Western  trade.  They  are  met  with  on  every  road  to  California,  in  the 
mining  districts  of  Colorado,  the  gulches  of  British  Columbia,  and  the 
vast  expanses  of  Mexico  and  Texas.  Their  mission  has,  however,  been 
uniformly  peaceful.  They  were  not  used  in  the  war  for  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Schuttler  might  have  obtained  a  contract,  had  he 
been  willing  to  make  wagons  on  the  army  model,  but  he  refused  to  do  so, 
believing  that  his  patterns  were  fiir  better  fitted  for  hard  service.  Red 
tape  bore  off  the  palm,  and  utility  contented  itself  with  the  reward  of 
merit. 


PETER   SCHUTTLEE.  249 

]\Ir.  Sclmttler  died  January  16,  1865,  of  congestion  of  the  liver  and 
bowels,  an  affection  under  which  he  had  labored  ever  since  he  loft 
Cleveland,  and  brought  on,  no  doubt,  by  his  intense  exertions.  He  will 
long  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  energetic  men  who  ever  came  to 
the  AVest.  He  was  a  model  of  economy  and  clearsightedness,  and  believed 
in  hard  work  as  being  intinitely  superior  to  speculation.  Thorough  con- 
scientiousness was  a  prominent  trait  in  his  character.  His  wagons  were 
all  made  to  use,  and  one  was  constructed  as  good  as  another.  None  Avere 
allowed  to  leave  his  shop  with  a  known  flaw,  and,  in  consequence,  no  one 
ever  found  fault  with  a  bargain,  and  the  rule  was  "once  a  customer, 
always  a  friend."  He  has  written  his  name  indelibly  on  the  list  of  men 
who  leave  behind  them  enduring  evidences  of  taste  and  skill.  He 
founded  an  immense  business,  made  the  fame  of  Chicago  manufactures 
almost  universal,  and  was  the  builder  of  the  finest  mansion  in  this  city. 
His  house,  located  on  the  south  half  of  the  block  bounded  by  Aberdeen, 
Adams,  Morgan  and  ^Monroe,  is  a  model  of  elegance  and  taste.  It  was 
built  under  the  direction  of  J.  M.  Van  Osdel,  Esq.,  on  the  general  design 
of  the  mansion  of  Ex-Governor  INIatteson  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  took 
three  years  to  complete  it.  The  cost  of  the  building  alone  was  about 
a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  the  lot  and  the  furniture  involved  the  outlay 
of  an  almost  equal  amount.     It  has  been  the  admiration  of  thousands. 

With  such  a  father,  the  son  could  scarcely  fail  to  receive  that  thorough 
ingraining  of  energy  which  is  the  master  of  gold ;  he  inherits  this  from 
his  birth,  and  his  youthful  training  has  strengthened  the  original  impulse. 
Peter  Avas  early  taught  the  value  of  intelligent  exertion,  and  received  a 
thorough  practical  education,  that  his  energies  might  be  the  more 
efficiently  directed.  With  the  exception  of  the  first  two  years  of  his  life, 
passed  in  Sandusky,  he  has  belonged  to  Chicago,  and,  since  his  school 
days  Avere  finished,  has  been  identified  Avith  the  business  Avhich  he  now 
conducts  and  controls  most  efficiently. 

His  first  lessons  Avere  taken  in  School  No.  1,  in  this  city,  now  called 
the  Dearborn  School.  He  then  attended  a  private  school  in  the  North 
Division,  and  afterwards  one  taught  by  Mr.  Gleason,  an  instructor  at  the 
South  Side  Synagogue.  He  made  great  progress  in  his  studies,  but  his 
father  was  not  content  that  he  should  lack  any  educational  advantage, 
and  determined  to  send  him  out  into  the  world,  that  he  might  learn  to  use 
his  eyes  and  cars  to  good  purpose.  In  1855,  he  accompanied  his  father  to 
Germany,  and  there   spent  six  Aveeks  in  studying  the  language;  tiion 


250  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

visited  the  World's  Fair,  and  returned  home.  On  the  21st  of  May,  1856, 
he  again  left  Chicago,  traveling  at  first  with  tlie  family  of  Mr.  Diversey, 
visiting  Mannheim,  on  the  Ehine,  and  Carlsruhe.  At  the  latter  place  he 
remained  four  years  and  five  months,  attending  the  Polytechnic  High 
School,  where  he  studied  hard  and  improved  rapidly,  under  competent 
teachers,  in  the  study  of  machine  building,  drafting,  etc.  During  vaca- 
tions he  made  foot  tours  through  Southern  Germany,  noting  its  beautiful 
scenery,  and  becoming  acquainted  Avitli  the  different  objects  of  interest  in 
Fatherland.  Returning  to  Chicago,  he  attended  Bryant,  Bell  &  Stratton's 
Commercial  College  for  one  year,  then  took  charge  of  the  books  in  his 
father's  establishment,  and  has  kept  them  ever  since,  having  been 
appointed  administrator  of  tlie  estate  and  manager  of  the  wagon  factory 
on  the  death  of  his  father. 

Mr.  Schuttler  is  a  well-built  man,  of  middle  height,  average  stoutness, 
ruddy  features,  has  a  clear,  dark  eye,  dark  liair,  and  pleasant  demeanor. 
At  the  date  of  this  writing  he  is  still  single.  He  was  a  model  son, 
paying  particular  deference  to  his  father's  opinions,  and  striving  to  antici- 
pate his  every  wish.  In  the  family  he  is  kind  and  affectionate,  but  quiet, 
devoting  almost  his  entire  waking  time  and  energies  to  the  management 
of  the  extensive  business,  which  he  conducts  most  efficiently,  overseeing 
every  operation  and  directing  every  movement.  There  is  about  him  no 
indication  of  bustle  or  excitement,  but  he  is  the  soul  of  activity.  His 
eye  is  everywhere,  not  "in  fine  frenzy  rolling,"  but  with  a  cool,  practical, 
searching  glance,  which  sees  into  everything  and  detects  a  lazy  stroke,  a 
flaw  or  a  misfit,  without  fail.  To  use  a  homely  phrase,  ''there  is  no 
shirking  when  he  is  around,"  and  as  he  is  always  "around,"  there  is 
very  little  chance  for  it.  He  believes  in  good  ^\•()^kmen,  and  is  willing 
to  pay  them  good  Avages,  but  requires  them  to  Avork.  He  pays  not  for 
ability,  but  for  its  exercise.  Brain  and  musck'  are  vahuible  in  his 
estimation,  but  only  when  employed,  and  the  man  Avho  should  think 
himself  too  good  to  work  all  the  time  would  speedily  be  reminded  that 
a  little  less  talent  and  more  exertion  are  preferable  to  lazy  genius.  He 
is  equally  careful,  as  was  his  father,  to  keep  up  the  character  of  the 
work  turned  out,  and  to  avoid  all  possible  cause  of  complaint.  Under 
his  exclusive  management  the  business  has  been  considerably  increased, 
and  is  now  in  a  very  prosperous  condition. 


SILAS  B.  COBB. 


The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Chicago,  has  been  one  of  its  most  successful  business  men,  and 
is  now  one  of  its  wealthiest  capitalists  and  property  owners.  He  arrived 
liore  in  the  spring  of  1833 — thirty-four  years  ago — and  has  been  a 
resident  of  the  city  ever  since. 

SiLA-S  B.  Cobb,  Esq.,  is  a  native  of  Montpelier,  Vermont,  having 
been  born  there  January  23,  1812.  His  father  Avas,  at  diiferent  times 
during  Silas'  boyhood,  a  tanner,  a  farmer,  and  an  inn-keeper — a  hard- 
fisted,  hard-working  man,  of  the  old  style  of  tough  and  rough  Xew 
Englanders.  He  gave  his  son,  who  was  the  youngest  of  a  large  familv, 
l)ut  little  opportunity  for  education.  He  was  kept  at  work  almost  con- 
stantly, and  was  permitted  to  attend  an  ordinary  country  school,  while 
living  on  a  farm,  only  occasionally  in  the  winter  season,  before  his  eighth 
year.  The  boy  felt  very  restless  under  such  treatment,  and  even  at  this 
day  cannot  but  feel  that  his  parent,  without  intending,  or  appreciating  it, 
perhaps,  did  him  a  grievous  Mrong  by  depriving  him  of  the  means  of 
securing  an  education,  even  if  nothing  more  than  such  as  the  common 
schools  of  that  day  afforded.  By  his  own  perseverance,  however,  he 
succeeded  in  gaining  sufficient  knowledge,  in  and  out  of  school,  to  answer 
all  mere  practical  purposes.  His  trials  and  burdens  were  eventually 
increased  by  his  father  bringing  home  a  second  wiic',  with  children  of  her 
own.  Circumstances  soon  transpired,  under  the  step-mother's  domestic 
administration,  that  made  home  almost  unendurable  to  the  boy.  His 
father,  however,  some  months  afterwards  sold  the  farm,  and  consented 
that  Silas  should  learn  a  trade.  Contrary  to  the  boy's  wishes  he  was 
entered  as  an  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker.     Soon  becoming  disgusted  with 


252  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

that,  he  left  his  employer,  and  returned  home.     His  father,  severely  repri- 
manding him,  now  insisted  on  his  becoming  a  mason.     The  boy  tried  it 
for  a  short  time,  but  finding  it  utterly  distasteful  to  him,  again  returned 
home.     After  another  scolding,  the  father  gave  him  permission  to  select  a 
trade  for  himself,  which  he  at  once  did,  and  was  apprenticed  to  a  harness- 
maker.     He  was  now  seventeen  years  of  age.     After  serving  one  year,  an 
incident  occurred  which  showed  the  plucky  disposition  of  the  young  man. 
His   employer   sold   out   his   business,   and   the   purcliaser   claimed   the 
apprentice  as  a  part  of  the  purchase.     Young  Cobb  indignantly  protested 
against  this  transfer  of  himself,  and  emphatically  declared  that  "  in  this 
case,   at   least,   the   nigger   don't   go   with   the   plantation."      The   new 
employer,  finding  that  the  apprentice  had  rights  whicli  he  Mas  bound  to 
respect,  concluded  to  make  a  new  bargain  with  him.     No  further  inter- 
ruption   occurring,  he    steadily   worked    at   his   trade,   and   completely 
mastered   it   in   its   various   branches.      After   liis   employer   closed   up 
business,  the  young  man  became  liis  own  master,  and  commenced  to  work 
as  a  journeyman,  at  Montpelier,  South  Hard  wick,  and  other  towns  in  tliat 
region.     After  nine  months  of  hard  labor,  lie  succeeded  in  saving  sixty 
dollars.     Having  attained  his  twenty-first  year,  he  had  a  desire  to  "  go 
West,"  and  seek  his  fi)rtune.     He  joined  a  party  who    were  coming  to 
Illinois,  under  the  leadership  of  :Mr.  Oliver  Goss,  of  Montpelier,  who  had 
been    "out  West"  and  located  on  Government  land  in  the  vicinity  of 
Chicago.     His  father,  upon  learning  his  intentions,  refused  to  assist  him, 
but  with  that  resolute  spirit  which  has  always  characterized  his  life,  Silas 
determined  to  accompany  the  party  as  far  as  his  money  would  take  him. 
Purchasing  only  such  articles  of  clothing  as  were  indispensable,  he  bade 
"good-bye"  to   Montpelier,  and  on  reaching  the  Hudson  Eiver,  took 
passage  on  a  line-boat  on  the  Erie  Canal.     After  some  mishaps,  and  the 
loss  of  a  part  of  his  money,  leaving  only  seven  dollars  in  his  purse,  he 
succeeded  in  reaching  Buffalo,  where  the  schooner  Atlanta  was  just  ready 
to  start  for  Chicago.     The  Captain  of  this  vessel  offered  to  take  him  to 
Chicago,  as  a  deck  passenger,  for  whatever  sum  of  money  he  might  have 
remaining  after  purchasing  for  himself  necessary  provisions  and  bedding 
for  the  trip.     He  bought  a  small  ham,  six  loaves  of  bread,  and  sufficient 
cloth  for  a  bed-tick.     After  getting  the  latter  sewed  into  bag  shape,  he 
filled  it  with  shavings,  and  used  it  as  a  bed  on  the  deck.     Tliis  primitive 
couch  served  him  for  two  years  after  reacliing  the  city.     He  handed  over 
to  the  Captain  four  dollars,  being  every  cent  that  remained  of  his  capital, 


SILAS   B.  COBB.  253 

and  the  vessel  sailed.  The  i)a!^sage  proved  to  be  very  stormy.  The 
vessel  reached  Chicago  on  the  29th  ot"  May,  18o3,  after  a  tedious  voyage 
of  five  weeks.  All  the  passengers  were  shortly  landed,  but  young  Cobb 
was  detained  on  board  the  schooner,  by  order  of  the  Captain,  who,  in 
violation  of  his  agreement  before  starting,  claimed  three  dollars  additional 
passage  money  of  him.  He  was  thus  kept  a  prisoner  for  three  days,  the 
vessel  being  anchored  some  distance  out  in  the  lake,  and  probably  would 
have  been  carried  back  to  Buffalo,  if  a  fellow-passenger,  hearing  of  his 
trouble,  had  not  kindly  loaned  him  the  required  three  dollars. 

Here,  then,  in  a  rude  settlement  of  log  huts,  occupied  by  soldiers, 
half-breed  Indians,  and  about  thirty  whites,  young  Cobb  found  hiraseli; 
without  a  cent  in  his  pocket.  Chicago,  at  that  time,  was  a  miserable 
apology  for  a  village,  and  the  prospect  of  getting  something  to  do  was 
anything  but  liattering.  James  Kinzie  was  then  the  leading  man  of 
Chicago.  Being  in  want  of  a  carpenter  to  "boss  a  job"  of  building  a 
hotel,  he  engaged  Mr.  Cobb.  This  was  the  first  hotel,  if,  indeed,  it  was 
not  the  first  house,  constructed  here  of  sawed  lumber.  Young  Cobb, 
although  conscious  of  his  entire  ignorance  of  the  carpenters'  trade,  under- 
took the  task  required  of  him.  His  wages  were  to  be  two  dollars  and 
seventy-five  cents  a  day  and  board.  The  Avorkmen  whom  he  was  to 
superintend  were  rough  Hoosiers.  For  three  weeks  he  "  bossed  the  job," 
without  awakening  any  suspicion  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Kinzie  that  he  miis 
not  a  practical  carpenter.  Fortunately,  he  found  among  the  workmen 
one  who  understood  his  business,  and  promoted  him  to  the  office  of 
assistant,  requiring  him  to  do  the  actual  work  of  a  "boss  "  whilst  vouno- 
Cobb  looked  on,  issued  orders,  hurried  the  workmen,  and  put  on  an  air 
of  "business."  In  this  way  he  got  a  great  deal  of  work  out  of  the  men, 
and  proved  to  be  a  valuable  "  boss."  So  long  as  he  superintended  it  the 
job  was  well  done.  Another  Yankee,  however,  soon  appeared  upon  the 
scene,  a  real  carpenter,  who  informed  Mr.  Kinzie  that  Cobb  knew  nothing 
of  the  trade,  and  secured  the  position  of  "boss"  for  himself.  Mr.  Kinzie, 
when  he  paid  off  and  dismissed  Cobb,  expressed  no  dissatisfaction, 
however,  at  his  conduct,  feeling  that  he  had  well  earned  his  money  by 
driving  the  work,  notwithstanding  his  ignorance  of  carpentry.  During 
the  three  weeks  he  had  worked  he  earned  over  forty  dollars,  and  with  this 
amount  in  his  pocket  he  again  found  himself  without  employment.  He 
had  obtained  a  start,  however,  and  after  refunding  to  his  iriend  the 
amount   borrowed   of  him   to  satisfy  the   extortionate   demand    of   the 


254  BIOGRAPHICAIi  SKETCHES. 

Captain,  he  set  his  wits  to  work  to  find  ways  and  means  iu  which  to  make 
himself  useful  and  earn  more  money.  He  finally  hit  upon  the  idea  of 
buying  up  the  little  stores  and  trinkets  that  immigrants  from  the  East, 
who  had  begun  to  arrive  numerously,  brought  with  them  for  sale.  With 
these  purchases  as  his  stock  in  trade,  he  became  an  auctioneer  on  a  small 
scale,  selling  principally  to  Indians  and  half-breeds,  and  made  the  business 
quite  profitable  as  far  as  it  went.  Adding,  in  this  way,  to  the  small 
capital  already  acquired,  he  soon  gained  sufficient  funds  to  "  launch  out " 
further  into  business.  He  put  up  a  frame  building,  the  upper  part  of 
which  he  rented  to  a  family  as  a  dwelling,  and  in  the  lower  part  he 
opened  a  harness  shop  in  compau}-  with  ISIr.  Goss,  who  furnished  a  capital 
of  thirty  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  stock.  This  was  really  the 
beginning  of  his  subsequent  career  as  a  successful  business  man,  and  a 
man  of  wealth.  Witli  personal  habits  of  strict  temperance,  economy  and 
a  close  attention  to  business,  he  was  prosperous  in  his  undertakings, 
gained  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  lellow-citizens,  and  gradually 
increased  his  means  and  extended  his  sphere  of  operations.  In  one  year 
afterwards  he  removed  his  harness  shop  into  a  larger  place,  after  dissolv- 
ing partnership  and  paying  Mr.  Goss  his  original  Ciipital,  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  besides.  He  was  compelled  to  make  this  move  for 
greater  accommodations  on  account  of  his  increasing  business.  He  con- 
tinued thus  to  prosper  until  1848,  when,  selling  out  his  establishment,  he 
went  into  partnership  with  William  Osborne,  in  the  boot,  shoe,  leather 
and  hide  business.  After  three  years  of  prosperity,  he  disposed  of  his 
interest  therein,  and  retired  from  active  business.  From  this  time  he 
turned  his  attention  to  making  investments,  economizing,  and  thus 
increasing  the  capital  he  had  accumulated. 

Mr,  Cobb,  during  the  years  in  which  he  was  thtis  engaged  in  labor  and 
trade,  judiciously  purchased,  from  time  to  time,  real  estate,  in  the  central 
parts  of  the  town,  and  from  these  outlays,  made  at  times  when  property 
could  be  bought  at  merely  nominal  prices,  has  sprung  the  large  personal 
fortune  which  he  now  enjoys — being  one  of  the  Avealthiest  of  our  local 
capitalists.  Here  is  an  example  for  the  poor  young  men  of  the  present 
day.  Without  any  help  but  his  own  indomitable  Avill  and  energy,  never 
ashamed  of  any  business  or  work  that  was  not  dishonorable,  avoiding 
idleness,  foolish  expenditures,  and  extravagant  or  injurious  habits,  and 
walking  in  the  paths  of  industry,  integrity,  and  economy,  the  poor, 
friendless  boy  of  1833  is  one  of  the  leading  and  wealthiest  men  of  our 


SILAS  li.  COBB.  255 

city  ill  1867.  He  could,  if  desired,  write  out  for  us  an  extensive  catalogue 
of  tlie  names  of  those  mIio  cdninu'nccd  llicii- cai-cer  here  about  the  same 
time  as  himself,  or  even  subsequently,  with  ilir  bitter  }»ros])ects  and 
advantaj^es  than  he  possQssed,  who,  owing  to  their  folbes  oi"  lile,  either 
hastened  to  early  graves,  or,  from  lack  of  good  judgment  or  habits,  have 
grown  prematurely  old,  in  poverty.  What  some  men  call  luck  is,  after  all, 
but  the  result  of  individual  industry,  shrewdness,  or  ingenuity;  while 
what  we  call  "bad  luck"  results  from  a  lack  of  those  qualities  of 
character. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Cobb  married  Miss  Maria  Warren,  tlu>  twin  sister  of 
Mrs.  Jerome  Beecher,  of  this  city,  and  the  daughter  of  the  late  Daniel 
Warren,  P^scp,  of  Warrenville,  Du  Page  County,  Illinois.  The  result  of 
tliis  union,  which  has  proved  a  most  hapi)y  one,  was  six  children — one 
son,  Walter  Warren  Cobb,  the  first-born,  aud  five  daughters,  named,  in 
the  order  of  their  birth,  ]\Iary  Jane,  Marie  Louisa,  Nora,  Letta,  and 
Bertha  jNI.  Of  these,  ]\Iary  Jane  died  in  May,  1852,  at  seven  years  of 
age,  and  Letta  in  September,  1856,  in  the  first  year  of  her  age.  The  rest 
of  the  children,  with  tlicir  mother,  are  now  the  fortunate  and  happy 
occupants  of  jNIr.  Cobb's  comfortable  home  on  Michigan  Avenue,  where 
he  enjoys  the  affections  of  as  devoted  and  contented  a  family  as  dwells 
within  the  limits  of  Chica<ro. 

Mr.  Cobb  has  never  had  any  taste  for  political  or  public  life,  and 
although  he  has  frequently  been  solicited  to  run  for  office,  has  uniformly 
declined  doing  so.  He  has,  however,  accepted  and  successfully  managed 
various  private,  personal  and  business  trusts.  In  1852,  he  was  appointed 
executor  of  the  large  estate  of  the  late  Joseph  Matteson,  original 
proprietor  of  the  Matteson  House,  and  the  sole  guardian  of  his  five 
children,  which  trust  he  held  until  1866.  In  1855,  he  was  elected  a 
Director  of  the  Chicago  Gaslight  and  Coke  Comj)any,  and,  a  few  years 
subsequently,  the  Managing  Director  of  that  institution.  This  position 
he  still  fills.  He  has  also  been  a  Director  of  the  Chicago  and  Galena  aud 
the  Beloit  and  Madison  Railroad  Companies,  and  a  Director  in  one  of  our 
principal  insurance  companies. 

Although  approaching  fifty-six  years  of  age,  he  is  yet  "hale  and 
hearty."  With  his  habits  of  temj)('rance,  cheerfulness  and  industry,  he 
bids  fair  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  labors  for  many  years  to  come.  As  a 
citizen  of  this  great  AV^estern  metroi)olis,  he  takes  an  honest  i)ride  in  her 
continued  prosperity.     He  has  materially  contributed  to  this  at  various 


256  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

times.  The  finest  business  block  on  Lake  street,  and  another  on  Dear- 
born street,  bear  his  name — monuments  to  his  enterprise.  Similar  ones 
are  yet  to  grace  our  streets,  which  he  has  in  contemplation  and  will  no 
doubt  live  to  bring  to  completion. 

In  summing  up  this  brief  but  interesting  sketch,  we  must  not  forget 
to  call  the  attention  of  young  men  to  a  few  facts  which  go  to  make  it 
complete,  and  which  have  not  been  already  named.  Although  Mr.  Cobb 
has  been  so  successful  in  life,  yet  he  has  never  received  one  cent  from  his 
parents,  nor  did  he  ever  hire  more  than  six  hundred  dollars,  and  that  for 
only  sixty  days,  paying  six  per  cent,  per  month.  He  never  asked  a  man 
to  join  him  in  signing  a  note,  and  his  faculty  for  work  was  such  that  he 
never  employed  a  clerk  or  bookkeeper,  excepting  when  in  partnership 
with  Osborne.  His  entire  lawyer  and  doctor  bills  have  not  exceeded  five 
hundred  dollars,  and,  what  may  be  looked  upon  as  wonderful,  he  has  not 
sued  over  three  men  in  tdl  his  immense  business  transactions,  and  never 
was  sued  himself  For  an  example  of  what  perseverance  and  sobriety, 
coupled  with  honesty  and  steadiness  of  purpose,  will  accomplish  for  a 
man,  we  need  no  better  illustration  than  that  which  is  given  in  this 
sketch.     Let  our  young  men  study  it  and  profit  thereby. 


HENRY   tiPiEENEBAUM. 


In  touching  ujion  the  commercial  interests  of  Chicago,  we  feel  a  just 
pride  in  producing  a  sketch  of  so  prominent  a  character  as  he  whom  we 
are  about  to  consider.  Having  occupied  for  years  an  enviable  position  in 
financial  circles,  we  feel  justified  in  obtaining  from  him  the  earlier  record 
of  his  life,  so  that  the  public  may  become  acquainted  with  the  surround- 
ings and  influences  wliich  have  in  some  measure  moulded  the  character 
before  us.  Henry  Greenebaum  was  born  in  1833,  in  tlie  quiet  and 
beautiful  village  of  E^jpelsheim,  near  the  city  of  Worms,  and  not  far 
from  the  banks  of  the  river  Rhine.  His  parents,  Jacob  and  Sarah 
Greenebaum,  were  highly  esteemed  by  the  residents  of  the  town  in  which 
they  lived. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1844,  an  incident  occurred  in  connection  witli 
Henry  which  we  will  relate.  The  Freiherr  Von  Dalwigh,  President  of 
the  Province  of  Rhenish-Hessia,  and  who  for  many  years  subsequently 
was  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hcssia,  happening  to  be 
in  Eppelsheim,  visited  the  village  school.  He  was  highly  pleased  yiih 
both  teachers  and  scholars;  but  there  was  one  bright-eyed  little  fellow, 
who,  by  his  ready  answers  and  general  demeanor,  attracted  his  special 
attention.  Addressing  him,  the  Freiherr  asked,  "How  old  are  you,  my 
boy?"  The  lad  answered,  "I  shall  be  eleven  years  of  age  on  the  18th 
of  next  June."  Whereupon,  the  grave  public  functionary  turned  to  the 
Mayor  of  the  village  and  the  citizens  present,  and  remarked,  "Twelve 
years  hence  this  boy  will  plead  before  the  Court  of  Appeals  at  Mayence." 

Although  the  prediction  of  Herr  Von  Dalwigh  was  not  literally 
fulfilled,  yet  the  fact  that  just  twelve  years  from  that  time  tlie  boy  of  the 
village  school  was  a  member  of  the  City  Council  of  Chicago  proved  that 
the  prophecy   was   not  without  foundation.      Had  he  remained  in  his 


258  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

fatherland,  instead  of  coming  to  America,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
the  Baron's  anticipations  would  have  been  strictly  confirmed. 

His  father  at  first  sent  him  to  the  village  school,  and  afterwards  to  the 
higher  institutions  of  learning  in  Alzei  and  Kaisers! autern,  where,  by 
assiduous  study,  he  acquired  a  solid  foundation  in  scholarly  attainments. 
His  father  intended,  however,  that  he  should  have  the  advantages  of  a 
full  collegiate  course,  preparatory  to  engaging  in  one  of  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. But  destiny  had  a  wider  sphere  in  store  for  him.  Two  of  his 
older  brothers  had  immigrated  to  America  some  years  previously,  and 
selected  Chicago  for  their  home.  Becoming  enamored  with  the  "land  of 
promise,"  they  wrote  to  their  parents,  urging  them  to  send  out  Henry  at 
once.  After  due  reflection,  they  consented  to  do  so,  and  Henry,  at  the 
age  of  fifteen,  left  school  and  sailed  for  this  country,  arriving  here  in 
October,  1848.  A  few  years  subsequently,  his  father,  Jacob  Greenebaum, 
Senior,  who  is  no^v  one  of  our  most  respected  citizens,  concluded  to  follow 
him.  Becoming  associated  in  business  with  his  brothers  liere,  the  young 
man  at  once  plunged  into  the  activities  of  practical  life,  and  educated 
himself  in  the  science  of  business  and  finance.  AV^ith  a  fair  education, 
possessed  of  more  than  ordinary  practical  talents  and  intuitive  good  sense, 
full  of  generous  impulses,  congenial  in  his  dis2)osition,  earnest  and 
energetic  in  whatever  he  undertook,  Mr.  Greenebaum  jsoon  won  for  him- 
self many  friends,  and  became  prominent  and  influential  in  this  great 
community  of  young  men.  He  took  a  leading  part  in  literary  clubs, 
firemen's  associations,  societies  of  beneficence,  and  whatever  else  he  ibund 
that  was  calculated  to  contribute  to  the  amelioration  or  happiiiess  of  his 
fellow-men.  Fortunately,  nearly  every  "public  movement  in  which  he 
took  an  active  part  proved  successful.  His  circle  of  friends  rapidly 
increased,  and  his  social  qualities,  earnestness  and  prompt  liberality  were 
soon  appreciated,  as  Mas  frequently  evidenced  by  numerous  testimonials 
publicly  presented  to  him. 

In  January,  1855,  in  company  with  his  brother  Elias,  he  established 
tlie  banking  house  of  Greenebaum  Brothers.  This  house,  wliich  has 
since  assumed  the  firm-name  of  Henry  Greenebaum  &  Company  (Henry 
and  David  S.  Greenebaum  and  Louis  Rullmann),  is  still  presided  over  by 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  It  is  the  oldest  European  banking  institution 
in  Chicago,  and  stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  commercial  and 
financial  men  of  the  city.  Its  drafts  are  honored  in  hundi'eds  of  banking 
offices  in  this  country  and  Europe. 


HENRY   GREENEBAUM.  259 

In  October,  1855,  Mr.  Grecnebauni  mils  married  to  Miss  Kiuilic 
llcymaiiii,  a  lady  of  most  excellent  mind  and  disposition.  Their  union 
was  blessed  in  August  ot"  the  succeeding  year  by  the  birth  of  a  son,  whom 
they  named  George  Washington  Greenebaum,  in  honor  of  that  model 
man  and  noble  patriot,  "the  fiither  of  our  country,"  for  whose  remarkable 
qualities  of  character  Mr.  Gi'eenebaum  has  great  admiration.  To  their 
profound  sorrow,  the  infant  died  on  the  day  previous  to  the  first  ainii- 
versary  of  its  birth. 

In  the  spring  of  1856,  Mr.  Greenebaum  was  elected  as  Alderman  of 
the  yixtli  Ward.  He  was  a  faithful  and  active  member  of  the  Council, 
and  helped  to  inaugurate  some  of  the  most  important  public  improve- 
ments that  were  started  at  that  time,  many  of  which  have  since  been 
completed.  The  Democratic  party  was  then  in  the  height  of  its  power  in 
Chicago,  and  he  was  one  of  its  recognized  leaders,  not  only  in  the  City 
Government,  but  in  the  country  at  large.  Undoubtedly,  if  he  had  been 
ambitious  politically,  he  could  have  secured  positions  of  great  trust  and 
honor.  But  his  extensive  and  constantly  increasing  private  business 
forbade  his  becoming  too  deeply  absorbed  in  political  afiairs.  At  proper 
times,  however,  he  contributed  his  share  in  counsel  and  in  Avork.  After 
his  Aldermanic  term  expired,  he  declined  a  re-nomination.  This  was  in 
1857 — a  year  that  Chicago  will  never  forget — a  year  of  financial  troubles 
and  a  general  wreck  of  credit  and  business  enterprise.  He  withstood  the 
shock,  however,  and  his  banking  house  proved  to  be  as  sound  and  impreg- 
nable, at  the  close  of  the  excitement,  as  any  in  the  State. 

During  the  memoral)le  campaign  of  1860,  the  Democratic  Convention 
of  Illinois  nominated  Mr,  Greenebaum  as  one  of  the  Pi'esidential  Electors, 
on  the  Douglas  ticket.  He  had  been  for  years  an  intimate  pei-sonal  friend 
and  a  warm  political  admirer  of  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  No  sooner 
did  the  sym})toms  of  rebellion  show  themselves  in  the  South,  after  the 
election  of  Mr,  Lincoln,  than  Mr.  Greenebaum  abandoned  the  Democratic 
organization,  on  account  of  its  sympathy  with  traitors,  and  henceforth 
acted  with  that  great  i)arty  of  ])atriots  who  supported  ti)e  President  and 
the  cause  of  the  Union.  Filled  with  love  ibr  the  great  free  country  of 
his  adoption,  he  manifested  it  in  a  spirit  of  genuine  patriotism  throughout 
the  war.  He  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  liberal  of  our  citizens  in 
behalf  of  tiie  army  and  the  cause  of  the  Union.  He  addressed  many  war 
meetings,  for  the  purpose  of  stimulating  eidistments  and  arousing  the 
pcjpular  patriotism,  and  contributed  his  full  share  towards  the  raising. 


260  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

equipping,  and  sending  forward  regiments  to  the  field.  The  Eighty- 
second  Regiment  of  Illinois  Infantry,  amongst  others,  remember  with 
gratitude  his  exertions  in  their  behalf.  There  can  be  no  better  test  of  the 
metal  of  the  true  patriot  and  citizen,  than  that  of  a  great  national  crisis, 
such  as  this  country  passed  through  from  1860  to  1865.  Chicago  was 
foremost  among  the  communities  that  promptly  and  practically  manifested 
their  appreciation  of  the  character  and  demands  of  tlie  times,  and  promi- 
nent among  the  many  citizens  mIio  entered  with  enthusiasm  upon  the 
work  before  them,  stands  the  name  of  Henry  Greenebaum. 

The  Illinois  Legislature,  at  its  regular  session  of  1867,  passed  a  law 
for  the  equalization  of  tax  assessments,  providing  for  the  appointment  of 
a  State  Board  of  Equalization,  for  this  i:)urpose,  to  be  composed  of  one 
member  from  each  Senatorial  District.  Governor  Oglesby,  at  the  request 
of  influential  citizens,  designated  Mr.  Greenebaum  as  a  member  of  this 
important  Board,  a  position  for  which  he  is  peculiarly  qualified,  owing  to 
his  familiarity  -with  values  and  the  general  property  interests  of  the  city, 
county  and  State. 

Mr.  Greenebaum  is  of  a  peculiarly  active  temperament ;  courteous  in 
his  conversation  and  manners,  and  possessed  of  a  cheerful  disposition.  In 
personal  appearance,  he  is  below  the  medium  stature,  compactly  built,  has 
a  good  head,  and  a  well  developed  form,  which,  though  j)ctite,  incloses  as 
big  a  heart  and  soul  as  we  often  find  in  a  mortal  frame.  He  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Reformed  Jewish  Church,  is  cosmopolitan  in 
sentiment,  a  devotee  of  art,  and  his  loftiest  ambition,  as  far  as  we  have 
been  able  to  discover,  is  to  assist,  to  the  extent  of  his  power,  in  the  moral 
and  intellectual  advancement  of  the  human  race.  A  true  gentleman,  a 
useful  and  public-spirited  citizen,  and  full  of  Chicago  pride  and  Chicago 
life,  we  feel  sure  that  he  could  not  take  up  his  abode  elsewhere  without 
producing  a  vacancy  in  our  midst  that  would  not  be  easily  filled. 


^0^ 


JAMES  E.  TYLER. 


The  gentleman  whose  name  appears  at  the  head  of  this  narrative  is 
the  youngest  of  the  three  children  of  Dr.  Piatt  B.  and  ]\Iargaret  IT.  Tyler. 
He  was  born  on  the  11th  of  March,  1811,  in  tlie  delightful  little  town  of 
Hillsdale,  Columbia  County,  New  York,  but,  during  his  infancy,  liis 
parents  removed  to  West  Stockbridge,  Berkshire  County,  Mass.  Dr. 
Tyler  was  an  accomplished  and  expert  physician,  and  Avell  known  for  liis 
literary  attainments.  His  own  taste  for  study  made  him  anxious  to 
secure  a  thorough  intellectual  training  for  his  children.  Knowing  from 
experience  the  value  of  education,  he  resolved  tliat  it  should  be  known 
also  to  those  whom  Providence  had  committed  to  his  care.  But  he  was 
frustrated  in  his  resolution  somewhat  in  respect  to  James.  Reverses  in 
business,  failure  in  health,  and  death  interv^ened  to  prevent  the  full 
development  of  his  generous  plans.  James  was  following  with  alacrity 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  older  brother  and  sister  tlirougli  the  common  to 
the  higher  school,  when  he  was  compelled  to  quit  his  books.  His  father 
died  in  February,  1828,  while  he  was  yet  in  his  sixteenth  year,  and,  with 
what  education  he  had  for  his  only  fortune,  he  turned  his  face  upon  the 
great  world,  and  with  resolute  heart  stepped  into  tlie  inidst  of  the  throng 
who  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  bro^\'. 

He  had  acquired  his  habits,  his  tastes  and  his  principles  among  the 
rustic  })opulation  of  the  old  Bay  Stiite,  where  the  very  hills  would  seem 
to  act  as  a  restraint  upon  inordinate  desires  as  well  as  dishonorable 
ambition.  In  his  eighteenth  year,  he  wrote  to  his  brother  in  these  litly 
spoken  words:  "Now,  brother,  let  me  tell  you  I  think  that  our  happiness 
depends  very  much  on  our  conduct,  and  therefore  let  onr  conduct  be 
regulated  by  the  purest  intentions  and  most  elevated  purj)oses;  let  ns  go 
straight  ahead  in  the  path  of  rectitude,  and  let  the  world  know  that  we 


262  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

have  courage  enough  to  be  honest.      Manage  everything  right  and  you 
will  keep  clear  of  trouble." 

He  joined  himself  to  a  village  storekeeper  in  West  Stockbridge,  and 
■worked  with  such  fidelity  at  counter  and  desk  that,  when  in  a  few  months 
his  employer  removed  to  Canaan,  New  York,  James  was  persuaded  to 
accompany  him. 

But  there  Avas  something  more  than  the  desire  to  make  a  living  for 
himself  and  his  mother  (whom  he  regarded  with  tender  reverence)  in  the 
boy's  mind  as  he  went  over  the  accounts,  or  stood  at  the  counter  of  the 
country  store.  He  early  developed  a  desire  to  be  ricli,  and  formed  a 
resolution  to  rise  to  respectability  in  the  mercantile  world.  He  sought  a 
wider  opening  and  a  larger  opportunity,  and  was  not  long  in  finding 
both.  After  consultation,  by  letter,  with  some  friends  of  the  family  in 
the  city  of  Cincinnati,  he  removed  thither  in  1829,  reaching  his  destina- 
tion by  stage  over  the  Alleghanics,  and  by  steamboat  down  the  Ohio. 

An  attorney  of  large  practice  offered  the  promising  boy  an  education 
for  the  legal  profession,  but  he  had  chosen  another  path  and  determined  to 
follow  it.  His  mark  was  fixed  and  his  eye  was  upon  it.  He  would  earn 
and  own  property.  He  would  achieve  wealth  and  use  the  power  it 
brought.  Worldly  possessions  were  the  means  he  would  employ  with 
which  to  do  his  share  of  lielping  on  the  world,  and  the  weapon  lie  would 
use  in  fighting  liis  way  througli  it. 

Engrossed  with  the  end  he  had  in  view,  young  Tyler  applied  himself 
industriously,  and  with  a  sagacious  eye  to  the  future,,  to  what  seemed  most 
conducive  to  that  end.  He  began  in  an  insurance  office  in  Cincinnati. 
After  a  few  years,  he  became  partner  in  a  store  of  the  neighboring  village 
of  Middletown,  and  secured  a  partner  of  a  more  enduring  and  endearing 
sort,  in  Miss  Eleanor  A.  Duffield,  daughter  of  Amos  Duffield,  deceased, 
formerly  of  Philadclpliia,  to  whom  he  was  married  on  May  15,  1832. 

Coming  into  sole  ownership  of  the  store,  the  young  aspirant  for  busi- 
ness honors  met  his  first  reverse.  The  sea  of  commerce  was  too  rough  for 
him.  His  boat  capsized,  in  common  with  many  others  that  had  been 
longer  afloat.  He  closed  his  establishment,  and  made  an  arrangement  with 
his  creditors.  His  friends,  having  full  confidence  in  his  integrity  and 
ability,  promptly  furnished  the  wherewithal  to  meet  his  liabilities.  The 
indebtedness  thus  incurred  was  afterwards  met  with  interest. 

Notwithstanding  the  sickness  of  hope  deferred,  the  young  man,  with 
his   young  wife,  returned   to   Cincinnati,   and   to   the  insurance   office 


JAMES    E.    TYLER.  263 

where  he  had  first  found  employment  after  his  arrival  in  the  great  West. 
Patiently  and  persistently  he  went  to  work  again,  with  his  character 
unsullied,  his  steady  habits  uninterrupted,  and  his  heart  still  beating, 
however  languidly,  with  the  ambition  previously  formed. 

It  was  not  long  before  an  expression  of  confidence  from  his  employers 
revived  his  spirits  and  renewed  his  resolution.  They  established  a  brancli 
in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  gave  him  charge  of  it;  and  to  that  tlirifty 
and  attractive  Southern  city  he  removed  ii;  May,  1834. 

In  February,  of  the  same  year,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Ninth 
Street  Baptist  Church  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  young  man  of  early  moral 
training  attained  the  one  thing  needful.  Morality  was  mellowed  by  the 
companionship  of  spirituality. 

In  Louisville,  he  soon  made  acquaintances  of  strangers,  and  friends  of 
acquaintances.  His  quiet,  and  yet  conspicuous  j^erseverance,  his  lively 
sense  of  honor,  and  his  painstaking  devotion  to  business,  soon  drew  the 
attention,  and  compelled  the  admiration,  of  the  foremost  in  mercantile  and 
financial  circles.  One  day,  a  merchant  of  influence  and  wealth,  Avith  M'hom 
he  had  not  even  an  acquaintance,  stepped  into  his  office  and  said :  "  Mr. 
Tyler,  I  have  observed  your  ])usiness  deportment  and  application,  and 
shall  be  glad  to  be  of  assistance  to  you.  I  am  a  director  in  the  Bank  of 
Kentucky,  if  you  want  anything  there,  let  me  know."  When,  in  coui*se 
of  time,  the  party  uttering  these  benevolent  and  inspiriting  words  was 
overtaken  by  financial  adversity,  Mr.  Tyler  was  swift  to  return,  with 
usury,  the  kindness  he  had  received,  his  gratitude  happily  having  abun- 
dant means  with  which  to  show  itself  In  tliis  connection,  it  is  proper  to 
add  that  out  of  his  earliest  substantial  accumulations,  a  liberal  portion 
was  invested  in  a  homestead  for  his  widowed  mother,  and  throughout 
life  he  has  contril)uted  largely  to  the  comfort  and  success  of  the  less 
fortunate  members  of  his  family. 

By  the  aid  of  a  New  York  banking  house,  he  was  enabled  to  add  a 
banking  establishment  to  his  insurance  office,  and  was  prospering  finely, 
when  he  met  with  anotlier  serious  check.  He  was  beguiled  into  a  manu- 
facturing concern,  which  he  found,  to  his  a.stonishment  and  embarrassment, 
was  badly  involved.  He  was  about  to  step  into  the  ranks  of  the  city 
leaders  in  finance,  when  he  was  diverted  into  this  by-way  of  speculation  ; 
and  when  he  returned  to  the  old  path  of  patient  industry,  he  could  but 
admit,  with  mortification,  that  he  was  considerably  reduced  in  means  and 
shorn  of  power.     The  cup  that  he  was  lifting  to  his  lips  with  so  nuicli 


264  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

delight  was  thus  dashed  to  pieces  at  his  feet.  He  saw  the  magnitude  of 
the  mis-step;  realized  its  consequences;  and  the  lesson  taught  made  an 
indelible  impression  on  his  memory.  Mr.  Tyler  went  back  to  the 
insurance  office  with  a  wisdom  that  has  ever  since  been  proof  against  the 
mania  for  speculation,  though  he  who  propagates  it  may  assume  the  dialect 
and  the  demeanor  of  an  angel  of  light.  Again  he  went  to  work  with  a 
Mill;  business  came  in  on  him  like  a  flood;  he  outstripped  all  his  com- 
petitors in  the  line  of  insurance;  he  soon  lifted  the  load  of  liabilities 
left  upon  him  by  his  reverses;  met  all  his  old  as  well  as  his  new 
obligations,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  had  achieved 
recognition  at  the  hands  of  the  first  in  business  circles.  To  hold  the  place 
he  had  secured  seemed  now  an  easy  task;  henceforth  there  would  be  plain 
sailing;  he  made  money  rapidly,  and  invested  it  profitably.  He  felt  com- 
paratively at  his  ease,  when  he  began  to  realize,  through  all  his  physical 
organization,  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  battle  of  life.  For  several  years  he 
was  an  invalid,  touching  his  noAV  large  business  at  arm's  lengtli,  or  turning 
away  from  it  altogether.  In  the  spring  of  1859,  by  the  advice  of,  and  in 
company  with  his  physician,  he  made  a  transatlantic  tour  for  the  benefit 
of  his  health.  An  eminent  London  physician  remonstrated  against  his 
returning  home  before  the  expiration  of  a  year  spent  in  the  relaxation 
and  recreation  of  travel,  and  he  accordingly  made  a  tour  of  Egypt  and 
the  Holy  Land,  touching  all  the  places  of  note  and  interest  in  these 
historic  countries.  The  account  of  his  travels,  which  he  sent  to  his 
friends  from  time  to  time,  Mas  shoM'u  to  George  D.  Prentice,  Esq.,  editor 
of  the  "Louisville  Journal,"  M-ho  insisted  upon  its  publication.  These 
letters  are  admirable  specimens  of  interesting  narrative,  and  would  do 
great  credit  to  an  experienced  newspaper  correspondent. 

Mr.  Tyler  returned  home  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  to  find  his  native 
countr}'-  in  the  midst  of  the  tumultuous  political  canvass  M'hich  issued  in 
the  first  triumph  of  liberty  at  the  national  ballot  box,  and  the  first  check 
of  the  Southern  slave  power,  by  the  election  to  the  Presidency  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Then  came  the  Avar.  Kentucky  affected  neutrality  in  the 
presence  of  sedition.  The  fearful  convulsion  Mas  felt  in  every  circle  of 
Border  State  social  life.  Alienation  reigned  M'ithin,  Mhile  M-ar  raged 
without.  Old-time  friends  passed  each  other  Mith  the  scowl  of  defiance, 
instead  of  the  smile  of  recognition.  Boon  companions  M'ere  set  at 
variance;  relatives  Avere  torn  asunder;  the  tenderest  family  ties  Avere 
snapped    suddenly.      Many   of   the   Kentuckians   who    sided   with   the 


JAMES   E.    TYLER.  265 

National  Government  removed  to  the  North.  Among  these  was  Mr. 
Tyler.  He  had  no  sympathy  Avith  the  Secessionists;  he  was  out  of  patience 
with  tlieir  principles,  and  he  liad  neither  heart  nor  healtli  with  which  to 
endure  the  unhappy  stiite  of  affairs  they  liad  brought  upon  the  community 
in  which  he  lived.  In  1861,  he  made  a  visit  to  Chicago,  and  was  so 
impressed  with  its  enterprise  and  thrift  that  he  immediately  invested  in 
its  real  estate,  and  in  1862  opened  a  banking  house,  which  is  still  doing 
business,  on  tlie  corner  of  Lake  and  Dearborn  streets,  under  the  name 
of  Tyler,  Ullman  &  Co.  The  firm  has  recently  opened  another  house  in 
Xew  York  city.  Mr.  Tyler's  business  is  that  of  a  private  banker, 
conducted  with  rigid  regard  for  the  legitimate  and  ordinary  rules  which 
govern  respectable  houses  of  this  sort.  Headlong  speculation  is  repudiated ; 
"  wild-cat "  ethics  are  eschewed.  The  financial  policy  which  carries  more 
sail  than  ballast  is  avoided.  The  latter  is  kept  in  strict  proportion  to 
the  former. 

Mr.  Tyler  is  now  largely  interested  in  real  estate  in  this  city,  and  has 
built  a  business  block  Avhich  bears  his  name.  The  substantial  groA\i;h  of 
Chicago  can  readily  be  traced  to  men  who,  like  Mr.  Tyler,  having  faith  in 
her  future  greatness,  did  not  hesitate  to  invest  their  wealth  in  the  erection 
of  magnificent  blocks  of  buildings,  palatial  residences  and  elegant  churches. 
In  addition  to  the  pecuniary  reward  which  sucli  men  receive,  they  have 
the  consciousness  that  posterity  will  ever  revere  their  memories. 

]\Ir.  Tyler,  with  others,  took  a  deep  and  earnest  interest  in  the  perma- 
nent establishment  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  which  institution  is 
to-day  the  pride  of  our  citizens.  He  contributed  liberally  towards  it,  and 
is  one  of  its  Trustees.  Any  one  seeing  the  fine  structure  now  built  on  the 
grounds  so  generously  donated  by  the  lamented  Douglas,  cannot  but 
express  their  approbation  of  the  men  who  liave  united  their  eflbrts  and 
means  for  the  accomplishment  of  so  great  a  Mork. 

The  First  Baptist  church,  on  Wabash  avenue,  one  of  the  finest  places 
of  worship  in  our  city,  has  also  been  built  by  the  munificence  of  sudi  men 
as  Mr.  Tyler,  Avho  has  given  largely  towards  it,  as  he  has  also  for  the 
endowment  of  the  Baptist  Theological  Seminary.  Without  pretending, 
however,  to  enumerate  the  many  contributions  of  which  we  are  cognizant, 
we  will  simply  add  that  they  are  as  unstinted  as  they  are  unostentatious. 
No  one  has  done  more  for  the  permanent  growth  of  our  eity,  takiug  into 
account  the  length  of  time  he  has  resided  amongst  us.  Mr.  Tyler's 
judgment  is  frequently  consulted   in  religious,  educational  and  business 


266  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

enterprises,  his  large  experience  and  habits  of  observation  giving  weight 
to  his  oj)inions. 

Before  concluding  this  brief  sketch,  we  feel  called  upon  to  note  the 
moving  spring  of  success  in  the  life  of  our  subject.  First,  we  plainly  see 
that  the  principles  which  actuated  him  in  early  life,  as  expressed  in  the 
letter  already  quoted  from,  have  been  steadily  adhered  to.  A  high  and 
reverent  regard  for  truth,  at  whatever  sacrifice,  has  ever  been  cherished  by 
him,  and  coupled  Avith  the  indomitable  energy  and  business  tact  which  form 
his  leading  characteristics,  he  has  ever  been  enabled  to  ovei'come  all  the 
obstacles  of  life,  and  bravely  outride  every  storm,  until  at  last  he  has  the 
consciousness  of  having  set  an  example  for  young  men  which  is  worthy  of 
imitation.  The  dream  of  his  youth  has  been  to  a  great  degree  fulfilled  ; 
his  ambition  has  been  gratified,  if  not  satisfied,  and  his  laborious  half 
century  of  life  has  its  reward  in  an  affluence  which  brings  to  its  possessor 
personal  comfort,  public  influence,  and  an  opportunity  for  beneficence 
during  the  remainder  of  life. 


PHILll^    WADSWORTH. 


Among  the  youno:  and  amhitioiis  leaili'i-s  of  the  business  circles  of 
Cliicago,  stands  the  name  of  Philip  Wadsworth,  whom  we  liave  selected 
as  one  of  the  rei)resentatives  of  that  class  of  successful  voung  merchants 
who,  by  dint  of  industry  and  unswerving  integrity,  have  risen  to  positions 
in  our  midst  that  are  envied  by  hundreds  of  older  settlers. 

Arriving  here  in  1853,  at  a  period  Avlion  the  commercial  prosperitv  of 
Cliicago  had  fairly  begun,  and  its  great  destiny  as  the  metropolis  of  the 
Herculean  Northwest  was  becoming  apparent,  ]\Ir.  AVadsworth  mav,  with 
others  arriving  at  about  that  time,  be  justly  regarded  as  forming  a 
connecting  link  between  the  old  and  the  new  of  Chicago's  career,  com- 
mercially, socially  and  otherwise.  Through  the  business  and  personal 
influence  of  his  lather  and  two  elder  brothers,  who,  even  at  that  early 
day,  were  extensively  interested  here,  he  soon  formed  a  large  acquaintance 
among  the  residents.  He  became,  so  to  speak,  a  junior  member  of,  and 
an  especial  flivorite  in,  that  circle  of  "old  settlers"  and  choice  spirits  to 
which  such  men  as  Lisle  Smith,  Dr.  Maxwell,  Richard  L.  Wilson, 
Dr.  Egan,  Colonel  Hamilton,  John  H.  Kinzie,  John  H.  Collins,  Tracy, 
Buttcrfield  and  others  belonged. 

Philip  Wadsworth  was  born  in  New  Hartford,  Connecticut,  Marcli  7, 
1832.  There  and  in  the  city  of  Hartford  were  sj)ent  the  years  of  his 
childhood  and  early  boyhood.  His  father,  Tertius  Wadsworth,  Esf|.,  is  a 
gentleman  of  great  Avorth,  wealth  and  business  prominence — a  heavy 
])rojK'rty  owner  in  the  East  and  AN'cst,  being  the  proprietor  of  a  number 
of  l)nsiness  blocks  on  I^akc  and  Water  streets,  in  this  city — and  who  now, 
although  about  eighty  years  of  age,  is  still  living.  When  a  boy,  it  was 
Philip's  intention  to  take  a  collegiate  course,  and,  by  way  of  preparation. 


268  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

he  spent  two  years  at  the  Williston  Seniinaiy,  at  East  Hampton,  Mass., 
and  two  j^ears  more  at  the  Connecticut  Baptist  Literary  Institution,  at 
Suffield,  Connecticut.  From  the  latter  pUice  he  graduated,  fully  prepared 
for  entrance  into  any  of  the  first-class  colleges  or  universities  of  Isew 
England,  but  relinquished  the  idea  of  doing  so.  He  understood  his  own 
disposition  well  enough  to  know  that  the  application  and  inactivity  of  a 
student's  life  would  be  extremely  unsatisfactory  to  him,  therefore  he 
yielded  to  his  tastes  for  mercantile  pursuits.  He  belonged  to  a  family  of 
merchants,  through  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  and  he  no  doubt  chose  wisely 
when  he  determined  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  liis  "  illustrious  prede- 
cessors." The  Wadsworths,  by  the  way,  rank  with  the  "best  families" 
of  Connecticut.  They  were  among  the  original  settlers  of  Plartford,  and 
the  name  figures  in  the  early  history  of  New  England.  It  was  Captain 
Wadsworth — a  brave  and  uncompromising  old  patriot  and  republican — 
who  struck  one  of  the  first  blows  which  ultimately  resulted  in  freeing  our 
country  from  the  tyrant  rule  of  Great  Britain,  when,  as  history  records, 
he  extinguished  the  lights  at  a  session  of  the  Colonial  Legislature,  took 
the  Colonial  Charter  from  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  liid  that 
instrument  in  the  hollow  of  the  tree  which  is  now  famous  as  the  "Charter 
Oak."  Another  of  the  family  Avas  conspicuous  as  a  leader  in  the 
"Pequot  war,"  when  the  first  substantial  foothold  was  made  for  the 
successful  settlement  of  the  New  England  Colonies. 

In  1848,  Phili])  Wadsworth,  [then  oidy  sixteen  years  of  age,  entered 
the  extensive  wholesale  and  jobbing  dry  goods  house  of  Hopkins, 
Allen  &  Co.,  in  New  York  city,  which  was  largely  engaged  in  importing 
goods  from  Europe,  as  well  as  jobbing  those  of  domestic  manufacture. 
Lucius  Hopkins,  of  this  firm,  has  of  late  years  been  President  of  the 
Importers'  and  Traders'  Bank,  New  York,  a  man  of  the  highest  character 
for  commercial  probity  and  ability.  John  Allen,  now  of  Connecticut, 
whither  he  has  retired  Avith  a  fortune,  was,  at  the  time  the  subject  of  our 
sketch  was  in  his  employ,  one  of  the  young  business  men  of  New  York, 
and  an  acknowledged  leader  in  business  circles.  Here,  Avith  such  men 
for  his  teachers,  he  began  his  business  education,  and  his  five  years' 
connection  with  that  house  gave  him  a  sjilendid  field  and  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  perfecting  himself  in  a  knowledge  of  all  the  "ways  and  means" 
of  doing  business  and  prej^aring  himself  for  its  successful  prosecution. 

In  1853,  his  brother,  E.  S.  Wadsworth,  Esq.,  wishing  to  avail  himself 
of  the  experience  and  knowledge  in  trade  which  Philip  had  acquired  in 


PHILIP   AVADSWORTH.  269 

New  York,  invik'd  him  to  Cliicaj;(),  to  ciitcr  the  llieii  cxtciisivc  ji)bbiiii;- 
house  of  Cooley,  Wadsworth  <t  Co.,  (the  same  ostablishiiient  which  is  now 
known  as  "J.  V.  Farwcll  <t  Co.,")  the  lirst  nrcat  wlinlcsilc  dry  ^oods 
house  in  the  city.  This  cstahlislinient  included  in  its  business,  also,  the 
departments  of"  clothing  and  boots  and  shoes,  which  were  subsequently 
separated  from  it,  the  wholesale  clothing  department  resolving  itself  into 
the  firm  of  Huntington,  Wadsworth  ct  Parks,  and  the  boot  and  shoe 
department  into  the  present  firm  of  C.  M.  Henderson  &  Co.  On  the 
death  of  ]Mr.  Huntington,  and  withdrawal  of  ^Ir.  Parks,  the  wholesale 
clothing  house  finally  became  the  present  well-known  firm  of  Philip 
AA^adsworth  &  Co.,  who  arc  doing  a  business  that  aggregates  not  less  than 
a  million  of  dollars  a  year.  For  the  past  eight  years,  they  have  also  had 
a  house  in  Boston,  where  nearly  alL  their  goods  are  manufactured.  The 
New  England  trade  of  the  Boston  house  amounts  to  about  $500,000 
annually,  including  the  trade  in  woolen  goods,  as  well  as  that  of  clothing. 
This  Eastern  connection  gives  Mr.  Wadsworth  unusual  facilities  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  business,  which  extends  into  every  part  of  the 
Northwestern  States  and  Territories.  Being  a  fair,  honorable,  and 
straightforward  gentleman,  and  possessing  those  fortunate  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  which  attract  friends  and  bind  them  to  us,  he  has  become 
one  of  the  most  popular  merchants  in  the  city. 

Though  amply  possessed  of  "this  world's  goods,"  and  ranking  with 
the  very  best  and  most  respected  of  citizens,  Mr.  Wadsworth  is  remarkably 
democratic  in  his  ways.  There  is  none  of  that  show  of  aristocracy  in  Ids 
life  and  conduct  among  men  which  so  disgustingly  characterizes  others 
who  have  much  less  occasion  for  "vain  pride."  He  regards  pomp,  glitter, 
and  haughtiness  of  demeanor,  in  this  republican  land  of  human  equality, 
as  only  so  many  signs  of  ill-breeding  and  a  pitiful  nature.  With  a  large 
circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances,  embracing  the  richest  and  poorest, 
oldest  and  youngest,  he  retains  the  respect  of  all.  He  possesses  the  faculty 
of  being  agreeable,  and  exhibits,  on  all  occasions,  the  manners  and  bearing 
of  a  true  gentleman.  He  treats  all  men  as  ecjuals,  and  even  in  his  store 
appears  more  as  an  associate  than  the  employer  of  his  clerks.  In  society, 
in  the  drawing-room,  and  at  the  social  board,  he  is  a  general  favorite. 
The  elderly  people  love  his  gentleness  and  his  sympathy,  and  the  young 
are  eidivened  by  his  sprightly  good  nature. 

In  1855,  jNIr.  Wadsworth  was  married  to  Miss  Georgiana  H.  I^oomis, 
of  Sufficld,  Conn.,  a  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  lady,  and  who  is  now 


270  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

one  of  the  leaders  of  Chicago  society.  That  she  is  possessed  of  a  patriotic 
and  benevolent  heart,  has  frequently  been  demonstrated  by  her  active 
efforts  and  generous  gifts  in  behalf  of  our  charitable  institutions,  and  for 
patriotic  objects.  Time  has  demonstrated  that  the  union  was  a  most 
fortunate  one. 

Mr.  Wadsworth,  since  his  residence  in  Chicago,  has  been  more  or  less 
actively  identified  Avith  all  public  movements,  enterprises,  and  institutions. 
From  the  time  of  its  original  organization,  he  has  been  one  of  the  most 
active  members  of  the  Young  INIen's  Association — a  society  which  furnishes 
the  public  with  the  best  library  and  literary  entertainments  that  Chicago 
enjoys.  He  was  one  of  its  Board  of  Managers  for  several  years — was 
elected  its  First  Vice-President  in  1859 — and  in  tliose  spirited  election 
canvasses  of  the  Association,  from  1858  to  1861,  which  its  old  members 
remember  Avith  pleasure  as  agreeable  and  profitable  reminiscences,  no  one 
was  more  active  or  liberal  than  he.  In  1860,  he  was  nominated  on  the 
"Opposition  Ticket"  fi)r  President  of  the  Association,  against  AVillia in 
H.  Bradley,  Esq.,  and  lacked  only  one  vote  of  being  elected;  and  in  1861 
he  was  elected  President  by  a  handsome  majority,  Avhen  running  against 
a  no  less  popular  or  influential  competitor  than  Thomas  B.  Bryan,  Esq. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  was,  prior  to  the  war,  and  is  to-day,  one  of  the  best 
read  military  men  in  Chicago.  He  is  as  familiar  with  the  school  of  the 
soldier,  from  the  manual  of  arms  to  all  battalion  and  field  movements,  as 
he  is  with  the  every-day  aflPairs  of  business.  The  "Chicago  Light  Guard," 
which  was  acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  best  drilled,  equii)pe<l  and  uni- 
formed military  companies  in  the  United  States,  was  organized  in  1854 — 
on  Washington's  birth-day — by  the  very  flower  and  pride  of  Chicago's 
young  men.  The  name  of  Mr.  Wadsworth  was  one  of  the  first  on  its 
roll,  and  he  was  always  one  of  its  most  enthusiastic  and  generous  sup- 
]  orters.  He  was  Captain  of  the  company  when  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
broke  out.  Altiiough  most  of  its  members  entered  the  active  service,  as 
Lieutenants,  Captains,  Colonels  and  Generals,  he,  appreciating  the  neces- 
sity, kept  up  the  company  for  at  least  one  year  after  the  war  broke  out, 
merely  as  a  school  for  the  education  of  soldiers,  preparatory  to  entering 
the  service.  During  the  first  two  years  of  the  war,  many  young  men  who 
had  joined  this  company  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  themselves  for  active 
service,  went  forth,  schooled  under  Captain  Wadsworth's  thorough 
drilling,  as  commissioned  officers  in  the  new  regiments  then  forming. 
Governor  Yates  frequently  offered  him  a  Colonel's  commission,  with  a  full 


PHILIP   WADSWORTH.  271 

regiment,  but  the  pressing  condition  of  his  vast  business,  and  otiier 
circumstances  which  he  could  not  control,  rendered  it  impossible  for  him  to 
leave  home  at  that  lime.  While,  however,  his  comrades  and  profcf/cs  wvvc 
doing  their  duty  in  the  field,  he  was  doing  effective  service  at  home.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  active  of  our  citizens  in  organizing  and  hastenino- 
ibrward  regiments  in  response  to  the  calls  of  the  Government;  and,  per- 
haps, no  man  in  Chicago  spent  more  from  his  private  purse  for  the  benefit 
of  the  soldiers  and  their  families  than  did  ^Nlr.  AVadsworth. 

In  18G2,  President  Lincobi  appointed  him  Assessor,  under  the  Internal 
Revenue  law,  for  the  First  District  of  Illinois — a  position  he  held  just 
one  year,  and  then  resigned  it,  owing  to  the  pressure  of  his  other  business. 
He  was  complimented  by  the  head  of  the  Department  as  the  most  prompt 
and  efficient  of  all  the  Internal  Revenue  Assessors  of  the  United  States. 
His  office  was  the  first  to  make  its  returns.  His  year's  salary,  amounting 
to  about  $4,000,  and  much  more  besides,  was  entirely  spent  in  enlisting, 
aiding  and  equipping  soldiers  for  the  field.  During  the  succeeding  year, 
his  contributions  in  aid  of  the  Union  soldiers  and  the  sacred  cause  in 
which  they  were  fighting  largely  exceeded  that  amount.  He  was  as  true 
and  liberal  a  friend  of  the  soldier  and  the  soldier's  family  as  we  had  in 
Chicago;  and  they  have  no  better  friend  now,  in  political  or  civil  life, 
tJian  he  is. 

During  the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  in  1867,  an 
act  was  passed  for  the  construction  of  a  new  State  Capitol  edifice  at 
Springfield,  at  a  great  cost,  and  on  an  extensive  scale.  Chicago,  being  the 
chief  city  in  the  State,  was  entitled  to  a  representation  on  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  ibr  the  erection  of  this  grand  structure,  and  Mr.  Wads- 
worth  Avas  wisely  agreed  upon  as  a  proper  man  to  represent  her  interests. 
We  have  thus  sketched  the  principal  features  of  the  career  of  one  of 
Chicago's  "leading  men."  It  is  the  bi<jgraphy,  in  part,  of  a  young  man, 
but  at  the  same  time  of  one  who  is  generally  recognized  as  among  our 
most  i)rominent  citizens.  Although  there  may  be  other  interesting  facts 
connected  with  his  life  which  we  have  not  named,  yet  such  as  we  have 
been  able  to  obtain  from  his  friends  and  other  sources,  we  .have  given. 

Physically  speaking,  Mr.  Wadsworth  is  a  man  of  robust  constitution, 
and,  being  judicious  in  his  habits,  will,  we  trust,  live  to  be  numbered 
among  the  old  settlers  of  Chicago. 


LEVI  D.  BOONE. 


It  is  natural,  as  it  is  proper,  in  commencing  a  brief  sketch  of  one 
among  the  oldest  and  best  known  of  our  townsmen,  to  note  his  con- 
nection Avith  the  distinguished  family  from  which  he  sprung.  Daniel 
Boone,  of  Kentucky,  is  a  character  destined  to  be  better  known  and  more 
honored  as  the  early  records  of  our  country  yield  up  their  treasures  at  the 
demand  of  a  more  earnest  historical  research.  His  father  immigrated 
from  England,  first  to  Pennsylvania,  where  Daniel  was  born,  and  after- 
wards to  Xorth  Carolina,  where,  following  the  impulses  of  a  spirit 
naturally  adventurous,  and  intolerant  of  the  artiiicial  conditions  and 
enervating  influences  which  had  already  begun  to  lasten  themselves  on 
Southern  society,  young  Daniel  penetrated  to  the  wilderness  of  the  West, 
and  Ihially  found  a  resting  place  in  Kentucky — "my  wife  and  daughter," 
he  says,  "being  the  first  white  women  that  ever  stood  on  the  banks  of  tlie 
Kentucky  River."  In  this  adventurous  move  he  was  accomjjanied  by  his 
brother  Squire,  who,  soon  after  his  arrival,  was  killed  and  scalped  by  the 
Indians.  A  son  bore  his  name,  and  became  a  distinguished  minister  of 
the  gospel  in  his  native  State.  His  marriage  to  Miss  Anna  Grubbs,  of 
Virginia,  occurred  under  circumstances  characteristic  of  the  romantic 
period.  Kentucky  consisted  then  of  two  counties,  divided  by  the 
Kentucky  River.  The  western  county,  in  which  was  tlie  home  of  the 
affianced  pair,  had  not  yet  acknowledged  the  blessing  of  a  single  magistrate 
or  other  functionary  authorized  to  administer  tlie  marriage  vow.  Squire 
Boone  and  Miss  Grubbs  accordingly  crossed  to  tlie  east  bank  of  the 
river,  and  there,  standing  under  the  shade  of  a  large  tree,  a  magistrate 
pronounced  them  one. 

Hon.  Levi  D.  Boone,  M.  D.,  ex-Mayor  of  Chicago,  was  the  seventh 


274  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

son  of  this  marriage,  and,  therefore,  grand-nephew  of  the  great  pioneer  of 
Kentucky.  He  was  born  December  8,  1808,  while  his  parents  were  sur- 
rounded by  the  ravages  of  Indian  warfare,  his  father,  with  the  men  of  the 
settlement,  fighting  the  savages  in  the  open  field  and  pursuing  them  over 
the  country,  while  his  mother  and  the  few  women  defended  the  garrison, 
repelling  attacks  with  fire-arms,  axes  and  boiling  water !  At  the  battle  of 
"Horseshoe  Bend,"  Boone  was  shot  through  the  hips,  a  Avound  from 
which  he  never  recovered,  and  before  he  was  ten  years  of  age,  Levi  was 
left  fatherless,  and  his  mother  a  widow  with  no  other  inheritance  than  a 
large  family  of  young  children.  Tlie  situation  of  the  boy,  thus  bereft, 
in  that  new  country,  with  but  few,  and  those  indifferent,  schools,  was 
anything  but  favorable.  That  young  Boone  rose  so  far  above  such  disad- 
vantages as  to  comjilete  his  medical  studies  at  Transylvania  University, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  with  a  good  me<lical  and  general  education, 
was  due  to  the  heroic  efforts  of  a  noble  Christian  mother,  and  to  his 
own  energy  and  native  intelligence. 

In  the  spring  of  1829,  Dr.  Boone  removed  to  Illinois,  spending  one 
year  in  Edwardsville,  in  the  office  of  Dr.  B.  F.  Edwards,  and  afterwards 
establishing  himself  in  an  independent  practice  in  llillsboro,  Montgomery 
County.  Hardly,  liowever,  had  he  become  settled  in  his  business,  when 
the  people  of  Illinois  were  startled  by  the  sound  with  which  liis  ancestors 
had  been  so  familiar — the  war-whoop  of  the  Indian.  The  Blackhawk 
war  of  1832  was  upon  tlie  country.  Faithful  to  the  antecedents  of  his 
family,  Dr.  Boone  was  the  first  man  from  his  county  to  answer  the  call 
for  volunteers,  and,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  cavalry,  served  out  the 
term  for  which  the  first  levy  of  troops  was  called  into,  service.  At  the 
second  levy  he  enlisted  as  a  private,  but,  immediately  on  the  organization 
of  the  army,  he  was  appointed,  by  Colonel  Jacob  Frye,  Surgeon  of  the 
Second  Regiment  of  the  Third  Brigade,  in  which  capacity  he  served  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

In  ]March,  1833,  he  was  married,  at  Edwardsville,  to  Miss  Louisa  IM. 
Smith,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  for  many  years  one 
of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State.  Lamartine  has  said 
that  the  pivot  of  man's  career  is,  more  than  any  other  circumstance,  the 
character,  first  of  his  mother,  next  of  his  wife.  The  maxim  of  the 
philosopher  may  furnish  the  key  to  the  success  and  happiness  which  have 
marked  the  history  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

After  six  years  of  successful  practice  at  Hillsboro,  supplementing,  each 


LEVI    D.   BOONE.  2lb 

yeiir,  the  lack  of  fortune  by  sucli  gains  a.s  dose  attention  to  business  and 
careful  economy,  cheerfully  shared  by  his  young  wife,  were  sure  to  bring, 
Dr.  Boone,  in  the  spring  of  1836,  sought  a  larger  field  for  enterj)rise  in 
Chicago.  Here,  yielding  for  a  time  to  the  temptations  of  business,  he 
suspended  his  medical  practice  for  an  engagement  as  Secretary  of  the 
Chicago  Marine  and  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  subsequently  for  a 
contract  on  the  canal.  The  failure  of  the  State,  occurring  soon  after,^ 
suddenly  dashed  the  bright  prospect  opened  by  this  contract,  and  left  the 
Doctor  free  to  return  to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  which  he  continued 
without  intermission  until  1862,  when  failing  health  required  a  change 
of  occupation. 

Of  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  as  a  physician,  there  is  no  better 
evidence  than  the  universal  regret  with  which  his  retirement  from  practice 
was  received,  and  the  fact  that  many  of  the  oldest  and  best  families  in  the 
city  still  cling  to  his  counsels  in  sickness.  In  fact,  very  few  men  ever 
possessed  in  a  higher  degree  the  qualities  which  constitute  tlie  true  family 
l)hysician.  Of  a  mental  constitution  and  habit  instinctively  thorough,  a 
clear  and  independent  judgment,  cool  and  firm  in  critical  moments,  yet 
sympathizing  and  tender  as  a  father,  the  cheerful  and  kindly  i^resence  of 
Dr.  Boone  in  the  sick  chamber  was  ever  hailed  by  his  jiatients  as  the 
insjiiration  of  a  confidence  and  hope  more  healing  than  medicine.  In 
times  of  prevailing  sickness,  as  during  the  visitations  of  the  cholera,  his 
unflinching  and  self-denying  devotion  to  his  patients,  and  to  all  who  were 
suffering,  whether  patients  or  not,  elicited  univ^ersal  admiration  and  the 
gratitude  of  thousands  who  shared  his  care  in  those  trying  days.  At  the 
first  advent  of  cholera,  in  1848,  he  was  chosen  City  Pliysician,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  position  three  years.  It  is  only  a  reflection  of  the  public 
sentiment  of  tlie  time,  sustained  by  the  records  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
to  say  that  his  administration  of  the  hospitals,  crowdetl  with  cholera  and 

.small-pox  patients,  exhibited  a  per  centage  of  cures  not  exceeded  in  the 

[history  of  this  city,  and  probably  not  of  any  other. 

His  fellow-citizens  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  value  to  the  public 
interests  of  Dr.  Boone's  business  talents  and  integrity.  For  three  terms, 
covering  a  period  of  six  years,  he  served  as  Alderman  of  the  Second 
Ward;  and  in  1855,  the  city  to  which  he  came  when  its  inhabitants 
scarcely  numbered  four  thousand,  having  grown  to  a  pojjulation  of  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand,  lie  was  elected  ISIayor,  as  the  candidate  of  the 
party  known  as  "Native  Americans."     The  period  covered  by  his  official 


276  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

term  was  one  of  the  most  eventful  in  the  history  of  the  city.  The 
in-coming  tide  of  immigration  was  unprecedented.  The  business  of  the 
city  was  active  to  intensity,  and  the  demand  for  nmnicipal  regulation  in 
every  department  was  urgent  and  insatiable.  A  glance  at  the  records  is 
sufficient  to  give  some  idea  of  the  extent  and  importance  of  the  measures 
of  that  administration.  The  High  School  and  the  Reform  School  were 
established  and  put  in  successful  operation;  the  grade  of  the  city  was 
finally  established,  and  the  present  sewerage  system,  which,  taking  the 
place  of  a  few  wooden  troughs  through  the  principal  streets,  has  converted 
the  quagmire  of  former  days  to  a  well-drained  town,  was  organized  and 
commenced.  The  Xicholson  pavement  was  introduced — Wells  street, 
between  Lake  and  Soutli  AVatcr  streets,  being  the  first  specimen  of  its 
kind — and  an  extensive  scale  of  street  improvements  was  adopted.  The 
police  regulations  underwent  radical  revision,  and,  M'hatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  watchword  of  the  Native  American  party,  wliich  originated 
in  a  direction  given  by  Washington,  viz. — "Put  none  but  Americans  on 
guard" — in  other  applications,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in  this  instance 
its  elfect  was  to  give  to  the  city  a  police  force  of  unequaled  efficiency. 
Withal,  it  is  noticeable  tliat  the  tax  rate  dui'ing  this  term  was  but  nine 
mills  on  tlie  valuation,  a  rate  to  which  the  tax-payers  of  to-day  could 
devoutly  pray  to  be  restored. 

The  slight  episode  known  as  the  "lager  beer  riots,"  an  armed  outburst 
of  Teutonic  affection  for  the  national  beverage  aii;ainst  an  increase  of  the 
license  rate  from  fifty  dollars  to  throe  hundred  dollars,  which  had  been 
recommended  in  the  Mayor's  inaugural  address,  for  the  double  purpose 
of  discouraging  the  business  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  prohibitory 
law,  enacted  by  the  Legislature  and  to  be  submitted  to  the  popular  vote 
in  July,  might,  under  less  decisive  treatment,  have  proved  a  serious  affair, 
but  succumbed  sunimarilv  under  the  vigorous  measures  of  the  Mavor. 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  the  even  and  prosperous  tenor  of  Dr.  Boone's 
life  was  interrupted  by  an  incident,  untoward  in  itself,  and,  to  a  high- 
minded  gentleman  of  unspotted  name,  extremely  painful.  On  a  charge 
of  complicity  in  the  escape  of  a  prisoner  from  Camp  Douglas,  connected, 
in  the  popular  mind,  with  the  general  imputation  of  disloyalty,  he  was 
placed  under  military  arrest  by  Colonel  J.  H.  Tucker,  Commandant  of 
this  post,  and  for  some  days  confineil  in  the  camp,  ^\•hen,  at  the  instance 
of  President  Lincoln,  an  order  for  his  release  was  issued  by  the  Secretary 
of  War.     The  sole  specification  by  which  the  charge  was  sustained,  was 


LEVI    D.   BOONE.  277 

the  testimony  of  a  re-eapturccl  prisoner  of  war,  who  had  escaped  by  bribing 
a  sentinel,  tliat  he  obtained  tlie  money  from  Dr.  Boone.  On  tliis  evidence, 
without  opportunity  tor  answer  or  explanation,  he  was  arrested,  and  imme- 
diately the  newspajDers  of  the  city,  especially  the  "Tribune"  and  "Journal," 
were  filled  Avith  exaggerated  statements,  and,  worst  of  all,  bitter  words  of 
long-time  friends  were  added  to  the  popular  clamor  against  him. 

As  this  is  the  first  word  that  has  ever  appeared  in  answer  to  charges 
and  aspersions  which  have  been  read  by  thousands  of  persons,  and  will 
probably  be  the  last,  it  is  but  justice  to  an  old  and  honored  citizen  that 
the  facts  should  be  put  on  record.     And, 

First.  It  is  manifest  that  on  such  a  subject  as  this,  little  importance 
attaches  to  the  popular  judgments  of  those  days.  They  were  times  of 
intense  excitement,  always  unfavorable  to  calm  judgment,  and  always 
taken  advantage  of  by  those  who,  without  acts  to  stand  as  proof  of  their 
loyalty,  endeavor  to  create  a  presumption  of  it  by  wordy  attacks  on  others. 

Second.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  any  condemnation  of 
Dr.  Boone  for  kindness  to  rebel  prisoners  would  be  a  condemnation  of 
the  entire  community  of  Chicago.  For  months  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Fort  Donelson  ])risoners,  the  loyal  people  of  Chicago,  men  and  Avomen, 
vied  Avith  each  other  in  lavishing  charities  upon  them.  Eminent  men  of 
the  East  Avrote  letters  appealing  to  our  citizens  to  convince  the  prisoners 
that  AA'e  AA^ere  their  friends,  and  thus  to  send  them  home  missionaries  in 
the  Union  cause.  An  enthusiastic  meeting  Avas  called  in  Bryan  Hall,  if 
Ave  ]-emember  rightly,  at  the  instance  of  the  commanding  officer  of  Camp 
Douglas,  himself  to  raise  means  of  relief  for  the  impov^erished  and 
suffering  Confederates,  and  a  large  committee  A\^as  appointed  as  the 
almoner  of  the  public  bounty.  Of  that  committee  Dr.  Boone  was  an 
active  member,  along  Avith  INIr.  Thomas  B.  Bryan,  Rev.  Robert  Collyer 
and  others.  In  that  capacity  he  aa'ES  in  the  habit  of  dispensing  to  the 
prisoners,  Avith  other  comforts,  money,  both  that  Avhich  Avas  contributed 
here,  and  that  Avhich  Avas  sent  by  their  Southern  friends.  It  is  true  that, 
at  the  date  of  the  Doctor's  arrest,  all  this  had  changed,  and  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  brutal  treatment  of  our  own  prisoners  by  the  CV)nfed- 
erates,  and  of  attempts  of  the  })risoners  in  Camp  Douglas  and  their  allies 
to  break  the  camp,  the  Government  had  prohibited  intercourse  Avith  them, 
ami  a  bitter  feeling  had  arisen  against  them.  But  it  is  also  true  that  the 
act  complained  of,  so  far  as  Dr.  Boone  Avas  res|)onsil)le  for  it,  occurred 
before  any  such  change.     This  Avill  appear  from  the  folloAving  facts: 


278  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Third.  About  the  middle  of  June,  and  while  acting  on  the  committee 
referred  to,  Dr.  Boone  was  about  leaving  home  on  a  business  tour  of 
some  weeks.  Negotiations  were  then  pending  between  the  Confederate 
authorities  and  the  Government  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  it 
was  daily  expected  that  those  in  Camp  Douglas  w'ould  be  sent  South. 
Finding  in  his  hands  some  thirty  dollars,  a  balance  of  fifty  dollars  which 
had  been  sent  him  by  the  mother  of  one  of  the  prisoners,  for  the  relief  of 
her  son,  Dr.  Boone  left  directions  Avith  a  young  man  in  his  office  to  pay 
the  money  on  the  orders  of  the  prisoner.  Three  weeks  afterwards,  when 
Dr.  Boone  was  nearly  three  hundred  miles  distant,  the  money  Mas  paid 
over  accordingly.  And  such  are  the  facts  which  furnished  the  grounds 
of  the  arrest  and  outcries  of  disloyalty. 

It  should  be  added  that  this  explanation  was  furnished  to  the  news- 
papers referred  to,  by  Colonel  Tucker  himself,  in  connection  with  an 
expression  of  his  own  entire  satisfaction,  but  for  reasons  known,  doubtless, 
to  the  managei's,  the  information  was  never  used. 

Fourth.  But  that  which  sheds  the  clearest  light  on  the  attitude  of 
Dr.  Boone  towards  the  country  in  its  time  of  trial,  is  his  own  acts  and 
expressions. 

It  is,  then,  matter  of  history,  that  he  was  the  first  man  in  Chicago  to 
advocate  inducements  to  enlistments  by  private  bounty,  and  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  Avar  proffered,  through  the  papers  of  the  city,  a  city  lot 
worth  not  less  than  six  hundred  dollars,  or  forty  acres  of  farm-lands,  to 
the  widow  of  the  first  volunteer  from  the  city  who  should  fall  in  the 
service  of  the  country.  The  widow  of  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  gallant 
Mulligan  to-day  enjoys  that  bounty.  Again,  after  the  battles  of  Fort 
Donelson  and  Shiloh,  Dr.  Boone  hastened  to  the  front,  and  as  long  as  his 
services  could  be  of  use,  rendered  them,  without  charge,  to  the  brave  men 
left  on  those  bloody  fields.  In  short,  if  prompt  and  earnest  co-operation 
in  all  measures  fur  the  support  of  the  war  is  any  sign  of  loyalty,  the 
Doctor  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  evidence. 

As  to  expressed  sentiments,  all  who  know  Dr.  Boone  know  that  the 
fearless  and  unrestrained  utterance  of  his  opinions  on  all  subjects  is  with 
him  not  only  a  habit,  but  a  principle,  and  that  here,  if  any  where,  would 
be  found  evidence  against  him.  And  yet  all  who  enjoyed  his  intimacy 
— and  the  writer  of  this  is  glad  to  have  been  of  the  number — are  ready 
to  vouch  that,  wath  opinions  as  to  the  causes  of  the  war  differing  from  the 
majority,  no  man  was  clearer  on  the  question  of  the  right  and  duty  of  the 


LEVI    D.    BOONE.  279 

Government  to  repel  uar,  by  whosoever  made,  and  few  more  confident  of 
final  triumph. 

More  eonelusive,  however,  than  all  sucli  expressions  to  Northern 
friends  and  those  known  to  be  in  sympathy  Avith  the  measures  of  the 
Government,  are  those  ooeurring  in  letters  to  his  Southern  friends,  during 
the  war,  some  of  which,  by  the  Doctor's  permission,  were  2)ublished  in 
the  newspapers  of  Kentucky,  as  contributions  to  public  opinion  there. 
From  several  of  the  original  letters  w'hich  have  come  into  our  hands, 
■\ve  cannot  forbear  to  subjoin  brief  extracts: 

"CuiCAOO,  May  20,  1861. 
*  *  *  "An  awful  stillness  and  suspense  now  hang  over  our  national  troubles. 
We  are  expecting,  every  day,  that  it  will  be  broken  by  some  decided  movement  of  the 
Government  troops.  The  opinion  generally  seems  to  be  that  it  will  be  upon  two  or 
three  difierent  points  in  Virginia  simultaneously.  If  so,  we  must  have  some  hard 
fighting,  or  the  secessionists  must  fall  back,  *  *  and,  in  that  case,  they  will  doubtless 
be  followed  up,  until  one  position  after  another  is  surrendered  to  the  Government,  and, 
eventually,  the  old  stars  and  stripes  be  again  unfurled  throughout  the  South.  I  feel 
much  relieved  since  your  election.  It  seems  to  me  not  at  all  probable,  now,  that 
Kentucky  will  be  drawn  into  the  folly  that  I  so  much  dreaded.  *  *  I  think  that  my 
dear  Kentucky  friends,  having  had  time  for  the  sober  second  thought  *  *  will  not  be 
likely  to  be  driven  from  their  purpose,  nor  from  the  counsels  of  their  wise  men.  *  * 
How  strange  that  such  men  as  Crittenden,  Guthrie  and  others  do  not  so  entirely  control 
the  public  mind  as  to  put  it  beyond  the  possibility  of  McGoffin  and  Breckenridge  and 
others  to  do  any  mischief." 

Again,  Avriting  to  the  same  brother,  under  date  of  June  22,  1861, 
after  a  grateful  recognition  of  the  goodness  of  God  in  the  bountiful 
harvest,  he  say8 : 

"And  then,  too,  the  delightful  prospect,  *  *  that  the  Union  sentiment  is  so 
strong  in  dear  old  Kentucky,  and  that  she  is  not  likely  to  share  in  the  same  ruin  which 
seems  to  be  the  fate  of  Virginia  and  Missouri.  How  strange  it  is  that  those  Slates  could 
not  see  their  true  interests.  *  *  I  have  felt  the  most  intense  an.xiety  for  fear  that 
Kentucky  would  also,  in  an  impulsive  moment,  make  the  same  fatal  plunge.  *  *  But 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  trying  hour  with  her  is  now  over.  *  *  The  North  are  not 
prejudiced  against  her.     They  feel  that  she  is  truly  a  loyal  and  Union-loving  State." 

Again,  under  date  of  September  13,  1861,  he  writes: 

"I  see  no  hope  for  your  fate  being  any  better  than  that  of  Missouri  and  Virginia, 
nnless  it  be  in  the  immediate  and  hearty  co-operation  of  the  Union  party  of  the  State 
with  the  Government  forces,  by  which  the  Confederate  forces  may  be  driven  out  or 
induced  to  leave  the  State,  and  the  secessionists  awed  into  quietude." 


280  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Speaking  of  a  recent  visit  to  Washington,  he  continues: 

"The  President  seemed  very  much  worn  and  anxious,  and  I  could  not  help  feeling, 
as  he  took  my  hand  in  both  of  his,  and  expressed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  me,  that  he  was 
thinking  of  matters  that  much  more  interested  him  than  seeing  an  old  acquaintance. 
Poor  man!  he  is  to  be  pitied,  and  we  ought  all  to  sympathize  with  him." 

In  answer  to  a  proposition  of  his  brother,  that  the  Doctor  should 
purchase  property  and  remove  his  residence  to  Kentucky,  he  writes: 

"My  Dear  Brother:  I  have  often  said  that  no  earthly  consideration  or  condition 
would  so  accord  with  my  feelings  and  wishes  as  to  be  permitted  for  the  balance  of  my 
days  to  live  near  you  and  your  *  *  beloved  family.  But  I  could  not,  for  any 
consideration,  under  existing  circumstances,  think  of  removing  my  family  to  the  South. 
I  do  not  think  I  would  do  so  if  the  McL.  farm  was  offered  me  as  a  present,  on  that 
condition.  When  General  Fremont  and  others  have  given  all  the  negroes  deeds  of 
emancipation,  and  the  country  is  all  free,  I  might  be  willing  to  give  fifteen  dollars  per 
acre  for  that  farm,  for  the  sake  of  living  by  you." 

In  such  utterances,  made  to  Southern  friends,  and,  through  the  news- 
papers, to  the  people  of  his  native  State,  we  are  asked  to  see  the  evidences 
of  disloyalty  and  complicity  with  the  rebel  enemies  of  the  Government ! 

Of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  in  the  more  private  relations,  the  room 
left  us  only  allows  us  to  say  that,  as  a  business  man.  Dr.  Boone  belongs 
to  that  type  of  men  "who  swear  to  their  hurt  and  change  not."  Con- 
servative in  judgment  and  cautious  in  action,  his  advance  to  fortune  has 
been  less  rapid  than  sure.  As  the  head  of  the  AV^estern  department  of  the 
Union  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Comjjany  of  Boston,  he  fills  a  highly 
responsible  position  and  enjoys  the  unlimited  confidence  of  his  business 
associates. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  made  a  profession  of  religion  in  connection 
with  the  Baptist  Church,  and  for  more  than  forty  years  ha.s  continued  a 
member  and,  for  most  of  the  time,  an  officer,  of  that  church.  In  the 
origin  of  the  denomination  in  this  city,  as  well  as  in  all  its  subsequent 
history,  he  has  borne  a  leading  jmrt,  contributing  liberally  of  his  means, 
as  well  as  his  time  and  counsels,  to  its  enterprises.  He  has  also,  much  of 
the  timCj  held  official  relations  to  many  of  the  State  and  national  organi- 
zations of  his  denomination.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  lend  his  counsels 
and  co-operation  to  the  University  of  the  citVj  has  been  from  its  incorpo- 
ration a  Trustee  in  its  General  and  Executive  Boards,  and  one  of  the 
largest  contributors  to  its  funds.  In  the  work  of  Sabbath  schools  he 
has  found  a  sphere  of  special  pleasure  and  usefulness,  his  own  genial 


I.KVI    1>.    HOONE.  281 

ilisposition    and    numncrs  aiirartini;-   to    liiiu,  naturally,  the   society  and 
IVienclship  of  the  young,  and  giving  him  iufiuence  over  them. 

At  the  i)resent  time,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years,  blest  with  the 
soeiety  of  his  estimable  wife  and  six  children,  his  homo  the  centre,  as  it 
luts  always  been,  of  a  refined  and  generous  hospitality,  and  of  many 
friendships,  with  health  and  natural  cheerfulness  little  impaired,  Dr.  Boone 
is  passing  gracefully  to  that  period  of  life  when  the  shadows  lengthen  and 
the  lights  grow  dim,  but  hopeful  in  the  prospects  of  the  "Better  Land." 


i 


EMANUEL    IIONSINGER. 


Foremost  among  those  of  ino-onioiis  brain  and  cunning  fingers  in  the 
great  city  whose  men  of  mark  this  vohmie  is  to  designate,  is  the  man 
whose  name  we  have  put  at  the  head  of  tliis  page.  To  foHow  such  a 
character,  througli  all  the  stages  of  its  development,  is  to  give  our  atten- 
tion to  an  entertaining  narrative  of  mental  progress  and  useful  success. 

Dr.  Honsinger's  parents  were  James  and  Margaret  Honsinger;  his 
birth-place  Henrysburgh,  Canada  East,  and  his  birth-day  the  12th  of 
September,  1823.  But  it  was  not  long  after  his  birth  tliat  the  family 
removed  to  a  farm  at  Champlain,  Clinton  County,  New  York,  where  the 
boy  toiled,  and  thought,  and  built  air-castles,  and  sought  out  many 
inventions. 

He  had  no  taste  for  agriculture.  His  admiration  for  it  was  poetical. 
He  read  of  it  and  thought  of  it  w^itli  the  customary  sentimentality,  but 
he  had  aversion  rather  than  affection  for  its  monotonous  round  of  manual 
labor.  He  felt  something  else  moving  in  liim  liesides  a  sentimental  taste 
for  "driving  the  team  afield"  in  "jocund"  mood,  and  was  of  too  high 
a  mental  quality  to  be  content  Avith  the  drudgery  of  a  tiller  of  the  soil. 

One  day,  when  he  Avas  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  asked  his 
father  for  the  jwrtion  of  goods  that  fell  to  him,  that  he  might  find  an 
occupation  better  suited  to  his  taste,  and  a  more  congenial  manner  of  life. 
The  father  consented,  and  the  boy  turned  his  face  in  the  direction  of  his 
aspirations,  and  his  feet  into  the  path  which  should  carry  him  to  his 
destiny.  But  the  portion  of  goods  that  fell  to  him  was  not  "visible  to 
the  naked  eye,"  though  manifest  enough  to  the  observing.  And  this 
portion,  so  far  from  lacing  wasted  in  riotous  living,  grew  to  be  a  career 
respectable,  both  as  to  brilliancy  and  usefulness.  The  boy's  genius  was 
his  portion,  his  skillful  fingci-s  were  his  capital. 


284  BIOGEAPHICAI.  SKETCHES. 

He  ''worked  liis  passage"  through  several  years  of  schooling,  by 
hiring  himself  out  mornings  and  evenings.  He  had  the  gift  of  per- 
severance as  well  as  a  genius  for  invention,  and  allowed  no  hours  to  go 
to  waste.  He  had  been  taught  by  his  father  to  improve  the  time. 
Industry  was  an  inheritance.  He  made  a  profitable  investment  of  it. 
Without  being  settled  respecting  the  particular  vocation  to  which  he 
should  devote  his  life,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  he  Mould  make  the  most 
of  his  opportunities,  follow  his  bent,  and  wait  upon  circumstances. 
With  unremitting  application  to  whatever  his  hands  or  his  head  found  to 
do,  he  went  steadily  and  vigorously  forward.  He  was  alternately  pupil 
and  teacher.  He  earned  the  means  for  obtaining  knowledge  by  imparting 
it  to  others,  and  his  schooling  was  all  the  more  thorough  and  comprehen- 
sive from  this  fact.  Young  Honsinger  learned  more  in  the  teacher's 
chair  than  on  the  pupil's  bench.  He  secured  to  himself  the  funda- 
mentals of  education,  and  was  respectably  well  furnished  for  life's 
campaign. 

While  young  in  years,  his  faculty  for  mechanism  made  a  sensation 
among  his  circle  of  acquaintances.  When  he  was  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  he  had  constructed  a  drum,  a  flute,  a  dulcimer  and  a  violin,  without 
the  assistance  of  an  instructor,  and  Avithout  those  gradual  and  studied 
steps  which  most  men  take  in  acquiring  mechanical  skill.  It  all  seemed 
like  an  inspiration. 

At  fourteen,  he  said  to  his  father,  in  a  bantering  way,  that  if  the  boots 
he  had  been  a  good  while  waiting  for  were  not  done  within  a  week,  he 
VAOuld  make  a  pair  with  his  own  hands ;  and  when  the  week  was  up,  the 
boy  was  as  good  as  his  word,  although  he  had  never  seeij  a  pair  made. 
Lasts,  cutting,  fitting,  sewing,  and  all,  were  the  work  of  his  own  hands, 
and  for  several  years  he  was  his  own  boot  maker.  The  biographer  may 
not  pass  such  an  achievement  without  pausing  long  enough  to  render  it 
his  meed  of  admiration.  Such  genius  is  too  rare  to  be  held  in  slight 
esteem,  and  too  remarkable  to  be  refused  emphatic  record.  The  mind  so 
endowed  is  calculated  to  gratify  us  with  a  contemplation  of  its  power,  as 
well  as  with  an  assurance  of  its  value  to  mankiiKl. 

The  science  of  music  was  another  of  young  Honsinger's  acquirements. 
He  learned  it  and  taught  it.  While  thus  employed  one  winter,  he  sj^ent 
his  leisure  hours  in  manufacturing  a  sleigh,  which,  when  complete,  was 
conceded  to  be  as  good  an  article  as  had  ever  originated  in  the  shop  where 
the  boy  had  done  his  work. 


EMANUEL   HONSINGEE.  285 

Years  of  tl)i.s  sort  canio  and  went — years  of  teacliin<i-  ami  beino- 
taught,  of  experiments  in  eontriving,  aiul  of  planiiiiio;  for  the  future. 
At  last,  after  mucli  "casting  about"  to  see  what  he  slioukl  sokx-t  as  an 
occupation  for  life,  he  resolved  to  a]>ply  his  en(|uiring  and  ae(juirin<;'  mind 
to  the  science  of  dentistry,  and  accordingly  he  went  as  a  s-tndent  into  the 
office  of  Dr.  11.  J.  Paine,  of  Troy,  New  York. 

As  Ave  might  expect  to  learn,  after  following  Mr.  Honsinger  up  to 
this  period  of  his  life,  he  made  rapid  progress  in  his  new  employment, 
and  soon  excelled  his  employer  in  all  those  branches  Avhich  required 
mechanical  ingenuity  and  a  dexterous  hand. 

While  an  apprentice,  he  constructed  a  reacting  drill,  which  does 
its  work  with  great  rapidity,  and  case  to  the  patient.  It  was  suggested 
by  one  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Paine,  the  only  contrivance  of  the  sort 
he  had  ever  seen. 

In  the  autumn  of  1847,  he  opened  an  office  in  the  city  of  Troy,  and 
in  the  course  of  a  fcAV  years  obtained  a  respectable  patronage.  Nor 
was  it  long  before  his  inventive  faculty  made  a  contribution  to  the  instru- 
ment box  of  his  profession,  as  humane  in  its  effects  as  it  was  ingenious 
in  construction.  It  is  a  Rotating  Gum  Lance,  so  contrived  as  to  make 
the  entire  circuit  of  the  isolated  tooth,  and  effect  its  object  without  cutting 
the  gum,  a  merciful  improvement  upon  all  other  lances,  Dr,  Honsinger 
donated  it  to  his  profession;  a  cut  of  it  appeared  in  the  "Dental  Recorder" 
in  1854,  and  it  was  not  long  in  attracting  the  attention  and  receiving  the 
commendation  of  the  most  eminent  dentists,  and  won  a  premium  medal 
for  its  inventor  at  the  Renssellaer  County  Fair,  Thus  the  Doctor  took 
such  pains  with  his  inventions  as  to  save  the  pains  of  his  patients. 

While  in  Troy,  Dr,  Honsinger  invented  also  an  apparatus  which 
is  well  known  in  dental  circles  as  "Honsinger's  Combined  BloMj)ii)c 
and  Lathe,"  a  health  as  well  as  labor-saving  contrivance  of  conceded 
excellence. 

But  this  was  all  slow  business,  comparatively,  and  the  rising  dentist 
could  hardly  be  content  with  a  tame  old  Eastern  town,  Avhile  every  ncAvs- 
paper  and  every  letter  from  aforetime  companions  were  speaking  of 
the  Northwest  and  its  splendid  "openings"  for  genius,  skill,  enterprise 
and  energy  in  every  profession  and  occupation.  To  take  the  "Western 
fever"  when  he  took  it,  Avas  equivalent  to  being  carried  away  by  it.  He 
came  to  reconnoitre  Chicago  in  April,  1853.  Once  here,  he  resolved 
to   stay.     He  was    captivated.     Prices   were    higher,   rents    were   lower, 


286  BIOGEAPHICAX,   SKETCHES. 

trade  was  brisker,  everything  moved  with  more  animation,  than  at  the 
East.  He  felt  an  exhilaration  that  he  never  felt  before,  as  he  went  to  his 
place  in  this  grand  and  teeming  workshop. 

He  put  out  his  sign  at  No.  77  Lake  Street,  and  there  it  hung  until 
last  March — nearly  thirteen  years,  a  forcible  illustration  of  steadfastness 
in  the  midst  of  change.  Others  failed;  he  succeeded.  Many  lost  heart, 
and  quit  their  hold ;  he  held  on,  and  earned  the  crown  that  perseverance 
earns  for  those  Avho  wear  it  as  a  cross.  When,  in  March  last.  Dr. 
Honsinger  took  down  his  flag  and  put  it  up  in  another  part  of  the  city, 
he  had  a  right  to  congratulate  himself  on  a  great  victory.  He  had  fought 
long  and  hard.  His  thirteen  years  of  industry  and  ingenuity  have  been 
rewarded  by  a  competence  as  to  the  comforts  of  life,  and  a  place  in  his 
profession  filled  by  fcAv  and  excelled  by  none  in  the  Northwest. 

The  Doctor  delights  in  progress,  and  is  always  on  the  alert  for  new 
ideas,  whether  they  start  in  his  own  brain,  or  in  that  of  another.  He  is 
no  "fogy,"  but  up  to  the  times  always.  He  believes  in  the  future  more 
than  in  the  past.  He  keeps  step  with  the  vanguard  in  science,  and 
abreast  with  the  picket  guard  of  discovery.  He  is  always  "read  up"  in 
scientific  controversy.  In  his  opinion — in  the  opinion  of  all  men  of  his 
breadth  and  acumen — there  are  more  things  yet  to  be  discovei*ed  than 
have  been  dreamed  of  in  the  philosophy  of  the  present  or  the  past.  He 
loves  to  be  pushing  on  after  grander  achievements,  reaching  up  for  higher 
skill,  and  prying  after  more  useful  and  curious  contrivances. 

In  1853,  Dr.  Honsinger  invented  and  constructed  an  automatic  sign, 
which  the  reader  has  doubtless  stopped  on  the  street  to  examine  and 
admire.  By  this  invention,  a  set  of  teeth  are  made  to  perform  a  mastica- 
tory motion  for  twenty-fom*  days  without  the  touch  of  a  hand.  In  1861, 
he  made  an  improvement  in  the  dentists'  spittoon,  tliat  many  of  ns  have 
had  to  look  into  mure  than  once,  with  anything  but  agreeable  sensations, 
and  which,  under  the  ingenious  manipulations  of  the  Doctor,  has  been 
entirely  rid  of  everything  offensive  in  the  way  of  odor  and  appearance. 
The  contrivance  by  which  this  is  accom^ilished  is  at  once  both  simple  and 
ingenious.  A  beautiful  rotating  arm  is  so  adjusted  that  its  revolutions 
can  be  increased  or  diminished  at  pleasure,  constantly  throwing  out  water 
to  every  part  of  the  basin.  In  this  way  perfect  cleanliness  is  obtained, 
and  no  offensive  matter  meets  the  eye  of  the  patient.  Another  of  his 
recent  and  important  inventions  is  an  "Adjustable  File  Carrier." 

The  candor  of  the  Doctor  is  as  conspicuoas,  and,  we  may  add,  of 


EMANUEL   HONSINGER.  287 

coui-se,  as  useful,  to  the  scientific  Avorld  as  his  ingenuity.  He  has  as  little 
hesitation  in  narrating  the  tiiilures  as  the  successes  of  liis  contrivances. 
He  talks  like  a  man  devoted  to  science.  Hence  his  frankness,  liis  sim- 
plicity of  mcUives,  and  of  behavior  in  the  presence  of  the  learned  and 
inquiring-.  He  is  too  eager  to  learn  the  remedy  for  his  blunders  to 
conceal  them.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Western  Dental  Society, 
held  in  Chicago  in  185G,  he  (h-ew  special  commendation  from  some  of 
the  foremost  scientific  dentists  by  the  honesty  of  his  remarks,  one  eminent 
dentist  declaring  that  the  Doctor's  candid  manner  of  speech  -was  of  lus 
much  importance  as  Mhat  he  said,  and  called  upon  the  scientific  men 
present  to  imitate  his  example  in  this  respect. 

In  1863,  Dr.  Honsinger  Avas  honored  with  the  title  of  D.  D.  S.  by 
the  Cincinnati  Dental  (.'oUege,  and  never  was  a  title  more  worthily 
bestowed  or  thoroughly  deserved.  Mere  theorizing  is  not  his  disposition. 
His  invention  must  be  practicable,  or  he  discards  it.  He  is  not  absorbed 
in  visionary  projects ;  he  reduces  the  visions  of  the  brain  to  machinery 
for  the  hands.  Enamored  as  he  is  of  science,  and  ardently  as  he  has 
espoused  it,  he  does  not  rest  with  a  love  for  or  worship  of  it.  He  works 
for  it,  gets  bread  from  it,  and  bread  for  other  [jcople  by  it.  He  is  not 
miserly  of  his  inventions,  or  gingerly  in  their  distribution.  He  has  given 
several  of  them  to  his  profession,  refusing  to  ask  a  patent  for  them. 

The  Doctor  is  an  active  and  valuable  mendxT  of  the  Illinois  State 
Dental  Society,  and  was  its  first  Vice-President,  and  one  of  its  delegates 
to  the  last  meeting  of  the  American  Dental  Association,  at  Boston,  in 
186G,  of  which  organization  he  was  at  that  time  made  a  mendier. 

Though  reticent  and  retiring,  he  is  often  consulted  respecting  the 
branches  in  which  he  is  so  proficient;  and  there  are  few  men,  in  his 
department  of  scientific  attainment,  whose  opinions  are  treated  with  more 
deference,  or  acted  upon  with  greater  confidence. 

The  Doctor's  private  life  is  well  worthy  the  imitation  of  those  of  the 
rising  generation  who  would  reach  a  position  of  coiiscciuciicc  and  useful- 
ness. He  has  always  obeyed  the  Apostle's  injunction,  "Owe  no  man 
anything,"  and  preserved  himself  from  many  extravagances  and  end)ar- 
rassments  in  consequence.  He  always  had  a  great  aversion  to  "  running 
accounts,"  and  found  great  gain  in  «loinL;  withnn(  cxcrylhing  for  which  lie 
had  not  the  means  to  j)ay.  He  never  attempted  to  "  keej)  up  a|)])earances," 
nor  made  any  pretension  to  a  style  whirji  his  income  would  not  warrant. 
He  is  too  proud  of  his  honesty  to  be  vain  of  a  parade  that  comes   of 


288  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

dishonesty.  Economy  is  a  duty  with  him^  frugality  an  obligation,  tem- 
perance a  habit,  integrity  a  religion. 

He  resorts  to  no  sensational  devices  for  the  entrapping  and  fleecing 
of  the  credulous.  He  did  not  rise  at  the  expense  of  a  fellow-craftsman, 
or  get  rich  by  violating  his  conscience  and  sense  of  honor.  His  large 
business  has  grown  of  the  soil  of  public  confidence.  His  work  is  the 
best  that  his  skill  is  capable  of,  whether  it  is  done  for  a  wealthy  merchant 
or  the  humble  mechanic,  the  gorgeous  madame  or  the  homely-dressed 
sewing-girl. 

Repudiating  the  mercenary  notion  that  the  chief  end,  and  the  only 
mission  of  man  is  to  make  money,  the  Doctor  tinds  enjoyment  in  the 
wealth  he  has  gained.  He  makes  his  pecuniary  means  a  source  of 
happiness.  He  is  fond  of  Ixis  home,  his  dogs  and  his  gun,  and  revels 
in  the  joy  which  he  finds  in  the  companionship  of  the  animate  and 
inanimate  creation. 

Nor  does  he  admit  for  a  moment  the  slavish  idea  that  business  is  to 
ride  a  man  to  affluence  though  the  next  step  beyond  be  to  the  broken 
health  M'hicli  prevents  its  enjoyment,  or  into  the  grave,  which  gives  the 
enjoyment  to  another.  He  believes  tliat  man  does  not  live  by  business 
alone,  but  by  that  health  of  the  body  which  is  indispensable  to  the  health 
and  development  of  the  mind.  In  this  respect,  the  Doctor  is  a  pattern 
for  thousands  who  are  wearing  away  their  lives  at  a  sacrifice  of  present 
enjoyment,  if  not  of  conscience. 

In  conclusion,  we  will  add  that  as  a  citizen  the  Doctor  stands  high  in 
the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him.  As  a  politician,  he  is  unobtrusive, 
voting  quietly  for  the  best  men,  and  never  taking  part  in  the  broils  and 
strife  of  active  politicians.  As  a  man  who  is  pursuing  the  even  tenor 
of  his  way,  discharging  his  duties  towards  his  fellow  men  as  they  present 
themselves  from  day  to  day,  we  think  he  stands  forth  as  a  model ;  and 
althoucrh  in  a  sketch  as  brief  as  this  we  may  fail  to  portray  with  clearness 
the  various  traits  of  character  which  go  to  make  up  the  man,  yet  we  must 
admit  that  some  of  those  traits  are  possessed  by  very  few. 


THOMAS    M.  EDDY. 


Dr.  Eddy,  Editor-in-Chief  of  the  "Northwestern  Christian  Advo- 
cate," is  justly  considered  a  representative  of  the  activities  of  Methodism 
in  the  Northwest.  He  is  worthy  of  that  rank,  whether  considered  as 
minister  or  editor.  Although  Illinois  and  Indiana  have  been  the  fields 
of  his  maturer  labors,  Ohio  is  his  native  State,  he  having  been  born  in 
Hamilton  County,  September  7tli,  1823.  His  lather  is  the  Rev.  Augustus 
Eddy,  a  well  known,  useful  and  popular  minister  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  who  exercised  his  earlier  ministry  in  Ohio,  labored  many 
years  in  Indiana,  and  now,  crowned  with  three-score  and  ten,  yet  remains 
in  active  service,  preaching  several  times  each  ^^•eek.  Thus  were  the 
earliest  associations  of  Dr.  Eddy  connected  with  the  itinerant  ministry  and 
then  were  laid  the  foundations  of  his  unbigoted  love  for  that  ecclesiastical 
system  which  he  now  so  ably  defends  and  worthily  represents. 

As  a  boy,  he  was  physically  frail,  and  his  delicacy  of  health  interfered 
greatly  Avitli  the  gratification  of  his  early  taste  for  study.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  earnest  desire  to  avail  himself  of  all  literary  advantages,  he  was 
permitted  to  spend  but  few  uninterrupted  months  at  school.  In  1836,  the 
family  sought  a  home  on  an  Indiana  farm,  and  fi)r  years  the  son  devoted 
himself  alternately  to  hard  work  for  the  sake  of  his  body,  to  school  for  the 
cultivation  of  his  mind,  and  to  teaching,  in  which  last  he  formulated  his 
knowledge,  while  he,  at  the  same  time,  recruited  liis  finances  and  indulged 
a  creditable  desire  to  benefit  others. 

Taxing  his  strength  and  resources  to  the  utmost,  he  attended  a  good 
academy  Avhere  he  commenced  that  classical  culture  which  he  has 
acquired  by  further  prosecution  in  private  study.  The  fiither,  sympa- 
thizing fully  in  the  tastes  of  his  son,  provided  for  him  a  judicious  selection 


290  BIOGRAPHICAL,  SKETCHES. 

from  English  literature,  embracing  history,  poetry,  philosojjhy  and 
fiction.  The  welcome  books  were  eagerly  read,  and  carefully  re-read  again 
and  again.  Pi'osecuting  this  industrious  coui'se,  he  not  only  increased  his 
knowledge  of  mere  facts,  but  cultivated  his  powers  of  thought  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  that  forcible,  generally  laconic,  and  often  elliptical  style 
of  expression  so  characteristic  of  him. 

In  1842,  he  entered  the  ministry,  and  was  appointed  to  a  circuit  on  the 
Ohio  River.  It  was  a  hilly,  rough,  and,  in  some  respects,  uninviting  field, 
and  well  calculated  to  test  the  pluck  and  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
entered  upon  his  chosen  profession.  Nothing  daunted,  he  pushed  forward, 
keeping  all  his  appointments  and  preaching  over  three  hundred  times 
during  that  first  year,  besides  a  conscientious  attendance  upon  all  the 
social  meetings  peculiar  to  his  denomination.  Xor  was  the  tongue  loosely 
disciplined  at  the  expense  of  his  pen;  for  the  young  minister  had  a 
natural  bent  towards  authorship,  and  early  became  a  newspaper  corres- 
pondent and  a  writer  for  several  magazines  and  reviews.  Thus  laboring 
professionally,  and  improving  intellectually,  he  soon  took  a  leading  posi- 
tion among  his  brethren,  and  was  appointed  to  some  of  the  very  best 
churches  within  the  limits  of  the  Conference  to  which  he  belonged. 
Quite  early  in  his  ministry  he  was  complimented  with  the  honorary  degree 
of  M.  A. 

In  1856,  Dr.  Eddy  was  called  to  the  editorship  of  the  '' Northwestern 
Christian  Advocate,"  Chicago,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Rev.  James 
V.  AVatson.  The  facts  that  Dr.  Watson  ^Yas  a  vigorous,  brilliant  writer, 
and  that  the  paper  was  in  its  infancy,  were,  to  the  new  editor,  both  trying 
and  stimulating.  But,  nothing  daunted,  he  gave  himself  to  the  unwonted 
work.  Appreciating  the  promise  and  width  of  his  field,  desiring  the 
advancement  of  the  church,  knowing  the  power  of  the  press,  alive  to  all 
public  issues  in  Church  and  State,  ever  regarding  the  amenities  of  the 
profession,  earnest  for  the  right,  Avith  an  eye  quick  to  perceive  the  critical, 
essential  point  of  a  crisis,  a  natural  tactician,  with  a  dash  of  love  for  the 
radical  and  unusual,  yet  preserving  his  equilibrium  in  propriety  and  saga- 
city, he  soon  made  his  mark  upon  the  paper,  and  in  the  regions  where  it 
was  circulated  or  quoted,  his  influence  was  felt. 

As  a  material  test,  the  subscription  lists  ran  up  from  eleven  thousand 
to  about  thirty  thousand.  Friends  multiplied,  and  the  influence  of  the 
"Northwestern"  soon  justified  the  belief  that,  while  a  powerful  political 
daily  sways  its  communities  of  fi-iendly  politicians,  the  well  conducted  and 


THOMAS   M.   EDDY.  201 

trusted  religious  weekly  lulls  not  behind  in  moulding  the  convictions  of 
the  people. 

The  well-known  slavery  controversy  in  the  Methodist  Church  fore- 
shadowed the  mighty  contest  which  later  shook  the  nation.  In  both  the 
controversy  and  the  contest  the  "  Northwestern "  was  decided  and 
extremely,  but  wisely,  radiciil.  In  this  it  was  fully  sustained,  for  the 
Methodists  of  the  Northwest  went  up  to  the  General  Conference  of  1860 
as  a  unit  for  the  radical  ecclesiastical  legislation  concerning  slavery  there 
accomplished.  The  first  editorial  by  Dr.  Eddy  on  national  affairs  which 
attracted  general  attention  was  an  elaborate  review  of  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  This  won  the  hearty  approval  of  leading  statesmen  and  jurists, 
both  by  its  patriotic  spirit  and  careful  research.  Subsequently,  when 
Southern  persecutions  of  loyal  Methodist  ministers  made  the  very  men- 
tion of  free  speech  at  the  South  a  farce,  when  sectional  feeling  ran  high, 
when  political  schemes  were  a  sad  entanglement  of  passion  and  strife, 
when  several  States  balanced  doubtfully  in  the  scale,  and  when  the  people 
waited  for  confident  guidance,  Dr.  Eddy,  tln-ough  the  "  North  western's " 
columns,  addressed  a  stinging  letter  to  James  Buchanan,  then  in  the 
Presidential  chair.  The  letter  was  everywhere  read  with  intense  interest, 
and  so  well  did  it  recite  issues,  recount  indignities,  and  point  the  contrast 
between  American  wrongs  and  freemen's  vested  rights,  that  it  was  widely 
copied  by  scores  of  newspapers,  and  reprinted  as  a  campaign  document. 
The  influence  of  that  letter  was  very  great  in  several  States,  but  especially 
in  Illinois,  during  the  campaign,  when  the  names  of  Lincoln,  Douglas 
and  Breckenridge  were  before  the  people.  The  ^Methodist  Church, 
although  not  a  political  organization,  yet  contained  hundreds  of  thousands 
who  held  that  religion  did  not  interfere  with  the  exercise  of  a  citizen's 
prerogatives,  but  rather  rendered  it  all  the  more  binding.  During  the 
canvass  of  1860,  many  thousands  of  these  reorganized  their  views  on 
public  questions,  and  Dr.  Eddy's  instrumentality  in  this  field  of  patriotic 
reform  was  distinctly  marked. 

During  the  war  the  "  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,"  in  its  influ- 
ential, but,  as  compared  witii  metropolitan  dailies,  unobtrusive  sphere,  was 
thoroughly  radical.  When  armed  conflict  became  inevitable,  the  paper 
advocated  tlie  truly  merciful  policy  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 
It  ever  seconded  the  call  for  troops;  was  among  the  first  to  condemn  the 
policy  of  protecting  rebel  property;  to  call  for  military  emancipation;  to 
(kinand  the  enrollment  of  slaves,  iind  to  persistently  maintain  that  the  war 


292  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

was  one  of  ideas,  and  that  half  measures  were  recreantly  treasonable 
toward  God  and  man.  Thus  is  explained  the  fact  that  the  paper  advanced 
to  a  leading  position  among  Western  journals.  Xever  behind,  but  always 
in  advance  of  public  sentiment,  it  won  a  place  in  the  warm  hearts  of  the 
people,  and  was  ever  welcome  to  the  soldier's  tent.  In  addition  to  his 
labors  as  editor,  Dr.  Eddy's  services  during  the  war  in  promoting  the 
interests  of  the  Christian  and  Sanitary  Commissions  were  not  inconsidera- 
ble, though  he  declined  to  enter  exclusively  into  their  service  as  lecturer  or 
agent.  He  lectured  repeatedly  during  the  war  upon  the  vital  issues  of  the 
conflict,  and  so  highly  appreciated  were  his  inspiring  words,  that  when  he 
tendered  his  services  in  the  field  to  Governor  Yates,  he  was  urged  to 
retain  the  post  Avhere  he  was  best  doing  a  patriot's  work. 

Dr.  Eddy  has  done  our  returned  and  martyred  volunteers  an  important 
service,  in  the  publication  of  two  volumes  of  war  history,  entitled  "  The 
Patriotism  of  Illinois;"  a  work  which  cost  much  labor,  and  has  already 
been  largely  distributed  to  soldiers'  homes  and  more  public  libraries. 

The  war  now  over,  the  Doctor  has  addressed  himself  anew  to  his  work 
as  an  editor  and  minister.  The  "  Northwestern"  is  known  as  a  religious 
newspaper  devoted  to  living  issues;  and,  in  the  language  of  the  editor, 
it  is  "a  rostrum,  and  not  a  sepulchre"  of  dead  issues.  High  above  all 
claims,  lie  holds  those  of  Christ  and  His  fold.  Though  he  has  Avritten  so 
much,  and  has  dedicated  more  churches,  and  "raised"  more  money  than 
any  man  in  America,  he  yet  preaches  the  word  in  season  and  out  of  season. 
As  a  pulpit  orator,  he  is  ready,  clear,  evangelical  and  effective;  he  is  at 
once  instructive,  convincing  and  persuasive.  Although  popular  as  a 
lecturer,  he  yet,  from  choice,  gives  his  voice  and  strength  to  the  minister's 
more  sacred  callino-.  Nor  have  more  dazzling  overtures  been  successful  to 
render  him  foro-etful  of  God's  call.     Twice  has  the  Doctor  received  the 

o 

tender  of  a  congressional  nomination,  at  times  when  that  was  equivalent 
to  an  election.  In  these,  as  in  other  instances,  he  has  preferred  to  remain 
among,  and  labor  with  and  for  the  people,  as  a  minister  of  Christ. 


(X, 


WILSON  K.  NIXON. 


OuE  intention  being  to  make  mention  of  one  or  more  leading  men  in 
A'arious  prominent  professions  or  branches  of  business,  we  have  selected 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  as  a  representative  of  those  who  are,  in  their 
daily  avocations,  to  a  certain  extent,  connected  with  music,  although  his 
standing  in  our  community,  as  one  of  our  most  public-spirited  and 
energetic  citizens,  is  not  dependent  upon  the  especial  business  that  he  at 
present  pursues.  To  be  prominent  and  remarked  for  energy  and  enter- 
prise in  such  a  population  as  that  of  Chicago,  and  to  have  become  so 
during  a  residence  of  but  a  few  years,  argues  personal  qualities  that  but 
few  possess. 

WiLSOX  K.  Nixon  was  born  in  tlie  pleasant  village  of  Geneva,  New 
York,  ,Vpril  9,  1826,  and  removed,  with  his  parents  and  only  sister,  to 
Cincinnati,  in  the  spring  of  1830. 

Owing  to  a  peculiar  delicacy  of  constitution,  he  was  able  to  attend 
school  only  during  occasional  very  brief  intervals,  and  received,  therefore, 
until  he  reached  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  almost  exclusively,  a  lioine 
education.  Music  was  one  of  the  means  relied  on  by  his  parents  for 
keeping  him  from  too  close  application  to  his  books,  of  which  he  was 
excessively  fond,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  piano  thus  acquirotl,  was, 
doubtless,  one  of  the  influences  that  afterwards  led  him  to  engage  in  his 
present  business. 

In  the  spring  of  1839,  his  father's  health  being  also  quite  delicate,  it 
was  determined  to  visit  Europe,  both  in  the  liope  of  improving  the  health 
of  the  father  and  son,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure.  Tliis  journey 
occupied  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  and,  in  the  autumn  of  1840,  the 
family  returned  from  their  wanderings  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and 
throughout  the  British  Islands,  to  their  old  home  in  Cincinnati. 


294  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

As  an  expedition  in  qnest  of  health,  this  journey  was  as  successful  as 
could  have  been  desired,  and  the  young  boy,  who  had  acquired  in  his 
travels  much  information  of  a  miscellaneous  character,  but  felt  that  his 
regular  education  had  been  greatly  retarded,  Avas,  soon  after  liis  return, 
entered  at  the  "Woodward  College,  in  Cincinnati. 

He  applied  himself  so  closely  to  his  studies  that  in  two  years  he 
accomplished  the  ordinary  work  of  nearly  twice  that  period;  but  his 
application  was  too  intense,  and,  when  sixteen,  he  was  attacked  by  severe 
illness,  and  for  months  his  life  was  almost  despaired  of.  On  leaving 
his  sick  bed,  in  the  spring  of  1843,  his  physicians  ordered  him  to  seek 
society;  to  enter  some  active  business,  and  not  to  open  a  book  again  for 
years.  Having  a  friend  some  few  years  older  than  liimself,  Avho  had  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  grocery  business,  the  two  boys,  at  the  mature 
ages  of  twenty  and  sixteen,  formed  a  partnership  under  the  name  of 
Smith  &  Nixon,  and  entered  "the  honorable  guild  of  grocers."  Three  or 
four  years  later,  they  established  the  first  successful  tea  trade  in  the  West. 
Disposing  again  of  this  business,  they  opened  a  large  piano  house,  which 
is  still  continued  by  the  former  senior  partner  in  Cincinnati. 

In  the  summer  of  1854,  the  subject  of  our  little  history  married  a 
daughter  of  Miles  Greenwood,  proprietor  of  the  Eagle  Iron  Works,  and 
widely  known  as  one  of  the  most  enterprising,  energetic  and  public- 
spirited  citizens  of  Cincinnati. 

Some  three  years  later,  Mr.  Greenwood,  who  employed  several 
hundred  workmen,  and  carried  on  a  variety  of  iron  manufactures,  some 
of  them  not  elsewhere  known  in  the  United  States,  induced  his  son-in- 
law  to  join  him  in  business,  upon  which  he  gave  up  the  sale  of  pianos, 
and,  adapting  himself  to  the  atmosphere  of  foundries  and  machine- 
shops,  became  a  manufacturer  of  iron. 

Previous  to  this  the  firm  of  Smith  &  Nixon  had  built  many  fine 
edifices,  both  for  their  own  use  and  for  rent,  including  in  the  number,  at 
different  times,  three  of  the  finest  concert  rooms  in  the  country,  and  several 
of  the  buildings  put  up  by  them  still  stand  on  Fourth  street,  amongst  the 
chief  ornaments  of  Cincinnati's  handsomest  street. 

During  the  war  for  the  Union  the  immense  resources  of  the  Eagle  Iron 
Works  were  at  once  put  at  the  service  of  the  Government,  and  proved 
eminently  useful.  Arms  were  difficult  to  procure — the  Greenwood  Works 
put  up  machinery  for  rifling  the  old  smooth-bore  muskets,  commenced 
experimenting  in  the  manufacture  of  bronze  guns,  etc.,  and  in  a  short  time 


WILSON    K.   NIXON.  295 

turned  out  over  fifty  tbousaiul  rifled  muskets,  two  hundred  cannon,  tens 
of  thousands  of  implements  of  all  kinds,  and  finally  built  one  of  the  finest 
of  the  sea-going  Monitor  ships  of  Avar  that  has  yet  come  from  the  work- 
shops and  ship-yards  of  our  country. 

Before  this  vessel  was  finished,  however,  Mr.  Nixon  had  again  been 
compelled  to  change  his  business,  and  this  time  his  place  of  residence  also. 
His  A\ife's  health  having  been  for  some  years,  quite  delicate,  entire  change 
of  climate  was  prescribed,  and  a  departure  from  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
and  a  permanent  residence  either  on  the  sea  shore,  or  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  great  Lakes,  was  recommended. 

Having,  a  short  time  before,  visited  Chicago,  the  physician's  advice  at 
once  suggested  that  as  the  most  desirable  location  for  both  business  and 
health,  and  after  six  years  of  experience  as  an  iron  master,  he,  on 
December  1,  1863,  removed  Avith  his  family  to  the  Garden  City.  Of  too 
active  a  temperament  to  do  without  some  business  employment,  and  yet 
not  knowing  hoAV  long  he  might  remain  in  his  new  location,  he  decided 
to  recommence  his  former  business — the  sale  of  pianos — as  one  that  could 
be  more  easily  taken  up  and  left,  if  necessary,  than  many  others,  Avhile 
success  in  it  depended  less  upon  old  business  connections,  and  more  upon 
every-day  effort,  than  most  others.  The  principal  manufacturers  of  our 
country — SteiuAvay  &  Sons,  of  New  York — having  long  experience  of  his 
business  qualities,  at  once  placed  in  his  hands  their  general  agency  for  the 
NorthAvestern  States,  and  he  was  again  a  piano  dealer. 

As,  hoAvever,  Ave  said  in  the  commencement  of  this  article,  while  he 
calls  this  his  business,  and  gives  it  such  a  share  of  his  time,  attention  and 
executiA'c  ability  as  insures  it  abundant  success,  it  engrosses  but  a  part  of 
his  time,  and  is  in  no  degree  the  measure  of  his  ability,  or  to  any  great 
extent  connected  with  the  reputation  he  has  gained  as  one  of  those  citizens 
to  Avhoni  Ave  point  as  giving  our  city  her  proud  position  as  a  chief  seat  of 
enterprise  and  progress. 

Pie  had,  indeed,  no  sooner  taken  up  his  residence  here  than  he  observed 
that  Avhile  land  speculators  and  others  had  made  an  immense  business  of 
the  s:de  of  out-lots,  Avater-fronts,  etc.,  and  Avliilc  elevators  and  Avarehouses 
Avere  numbered  by  hundreds,  and  miles  of  dwellings  Avere  stretched  out  in 
every  direction  upon  the  prairie,  yet  the  best  central  property  Avas  com- 
paratively undeveloped,  and  the  prices  demanded  for  such  locations  as 
Avould  soon  be  needed  for  offices  and  banks  were  much  below  their  real 
proportionate   value.      Shortly   after   his   arrival,   therefore,    he   secured 


296  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

possession  of  ground  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Clark  streets,  and 
put  up  a  building  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  by  one  hundred  and  seven 
feet,  chiefly  devoted  to  offices,  but  in  the  centre  of  which  was  placed  a 
beautiful  concert-room,  accommodating  some  sixteen  hundred  persons. 
For  two  years  "Smith  &  Nixon's  Hall"  was  our  finest  concert  and 
lecture-room,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  the  increase  of  his  own  business 
compelled  him  to  occupy  it  himself,  and  deprived  our  city  of  one  of  its 
most  agreeable  places  of  amusement. 

The  new  Cham])er  of  Commerce  being  fixed  on  the  corner  of  Wash- 
ington and  LaSalle  streets,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  west  of  his  first 
large  building,  he  at  once  secured  the  vacant  ground  between,  and 
commenced  the  erection  of  another  large  block  of  stores  and  offices 
of  about  the  same  size  as  the  first  one.  Enforced  absence  for  a  time 
threatened  to  interfere  with  his  business,  but  in  no  way  interrupted  it. 

The  health  of  his  family  again  demanding  a  change  of  climate,  he 
took  tiiem,  in  the  midst  of  his  active  building  operations,  to  Europe,  but 
left  them  temporarily,  and  for  a  year  and  a  half  so  divided  his  time 
between  his  family  in  Europe  and  his  business  and  building  enterprises 
here  as  to  attend  to  both.  How  few  have  passed  so  often,  and  in  so 
short  a  time,  from  the  active  scenes  of  the  most  stirring  city  of  our 
country  to  the  varied  scenes  of  the  Old  World ! — June  spent  in  our  new 
and  busy  city,  and  July  amongst  the  wild  and  fantastic  scenery  of  the 
Hartz  Mountains — August  to  October  piling  up  new  buildings  in  Chicago, 
and  the  following  Avinter  passed  amongst  tiie  orange  groves  of  Sorrento 
and  the  ruined  temples  of  Pompeii  and  Rome — the  early  spring  in  the 
gardens  of  Paris — June  and  July  again  in  Chicago — Math  another  passage 
through  France — and  home  again,  to  winter  by  the  shores  of  Lake 
Michigan.     How  strange  such  contrasts  must  appear! 

When  we  consider  that  in  building  he  is  accustomed  to  actively 
superintend  every  part  of  the  construction  himself,  it  is  a  marked  proof 
of  his  energy  that  during  less  than  three  years'  residence,  at  least  one  of 
which  he  was  absent,  he  added  to  Chicago  first-class  buildings  fronting 
over  seven  hundred  feet  on  our  principal  streets,  established  a  business 
second  to  none  of  its  kind  in  the  country,  and  attended  to  all  his  duties 
and  engagements  with  singular  fidelity  and  promptitude.  Pie  is  now 
living  here  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  homes  in  the  Xorth  Division, 
a  permanent  resident  of  our  city.  Being  still  in  the  vigor  and  prime  of 
life,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  suppose  that  what  he  has  alreadv  done  is  but 


^ 


WILSON    K.   NIXOX. 


297 


u  commencement  of  what  he  yet   h()i)es  and   designs   to  do  in  the  way  of 
beautifying  and  improving  the  Garden  City, 

Cliicago  is  not  like  other  cities,  nor  her  ways  like  their  ways.  Time 
passes  more  rapidly — more  work  is  done  each  day.  A  few  years  effect 
here  what  would  require  a  lifetime  in  most  places,  and  a  man  who  came 
here  in  1SG3  is  an  "old  resident"  to  nearly  one-half  the  population  of 
18G7.  \\'hen  we  see,  therefore,  a  man  like  this — prepared  to  join  in  all 
schemes  for  the  public  good,  ready  to  resi)ond  to  all  charities  and  calls 
of  benevolence,  exemplary  in  all  the  relations  of  life — enterprising, 
energetic  and  successful,  even  though  he  be  a  resident  with  us  for  but  the 
past  three  or  four  years,  have  we  not  a  right  to  claim  him  as  one  of  our 
"Leading  Men?' 


SAMUEL  C.  GRIGGS. 


Among  business  men,  the  successful  book  merchant  deserves  special 
mention.  No  other  brancli  of  trade  tests  more  tlioroughly  Inisiness  capacity 
and  skill;  nor  is  there  any,  when  jjrosecuted  upon  right  principles,  that 
influences  society  and  individual  character  to  greater  advantage.  A  pub- 
lishing and  book-selling  house,  managed  in  its  aifairs  by  conscientious, 
intelligent  men,  should  be  valued  in  any  community  as  the  schools  of 
learning  are  valued;  and  often  it  is  entitled  to  rank,  as  respects  the 
breadtli,  power,  and  effect  of  its  influence,  Avitli  the  highest  and  best  of 
such  schools.  For,  while  students  and  scholars  are  comparatively  few  in 
number,  and  must  necessarily  be  so,  readers  are  counted  by  thousands  and 
millions;  and  proportionately  with  the  number  of  good  books  that  a  man 
becomes  the  means  of  distributing,  will  be  the  number  of  teachers  set  to 
work.  By  these  instruments  he  forms  not  alone  taste,  but  character; 
supplies  not  alone  entertainment,  but  instruction,  and  puts  in  operation 
causes  and  tendencies  which  shape  destiny  itself.  In  the  particulars  here 
alluded  to,  the  gentleman  whose  name  stands  above  has  been  fortunate 
beyond  most,  even  in  his  own  sphere  of  business  life.  The  fact  is,  in  his 
case,  of  the  more  significance,  as  it  is  with  him  ji(»t  a  ha})py  contingency, 
or  a  subordinate  incident  of  his  career,  but  the  successful  working  out  of 
a  purpose,  early  formed  and  held  to  throughout  life,  witii  singular  tenacity 
and  consistency. 

Samuel  C.  Griggs  is  a  native  of  Tolland  County,  Connecticut.     His 

(father  was  the  most  extensive  farmer  in  the  c(Kinty  where  he  resided;  a 
man  of  strict  integrity,  and  so  highly  esteemed  in  that  regard  that  his 
word  was  always  deemed  equivalent  to  the  most  stringent  legal  attestation. 
He  was  also  a  man  of  generous  spirit,  and  ultimately  lost  his  entire 
I 


300  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

fortune  by  indorsing  the  paper  of  friends,  and  otherwise  lielping  them  in 
difliculty.  To  his  mother,  especially,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  Mr.  Griggs 
acknowledges  a  large  indebtedness.  She  \vas  a  ^voman  of  great  refinement 
of  feeling,  nervous  and  energetic  in  temperament,  and  with  aims  always - 
high  and  pure.  Upon  her  side,  the  family  traces  its  descent  from  some 
of  the  highest  branches  of  English  nobility,  and  in  the  line  are  reckoned 
not  a  few  who  were  as  eminent  for  their  moral  worth  as  their  honored 
lineage. 

It  Avas  the  chief  aim  of  this  good  mother,  in  the  training  of  her  son, 
to  instil  thoroughly  the  i)rinciples  of  true  manhood,  as  well  as  of  a  true 
Christianity.  Almost  daily,  during  the  period,  especially,  from  his  fifth  to 
his  tenth  year,  she  took  him  with  her  alone  to  her  room,  and  there,  in  her 
own  beautiful  language,  the  tender  eyes  often  filling  with  tears,  would 
picture  to  him  the  different  courses  of  life  which  the  bad  and  the  good 
pursue.  Illustrating  with  anecdotes  and  examples,  more  particularly  of 
those  who  had  become  eminent  in  the  world  for  true  greatness,  she  sought 
thus  to  instil  into  his  young  mind  a  thorough  aversion  to  anything  low, 
ignoble,  or  unworthy,  and  to  excite  the  laudable  ambitions  of  virtue  and 
the  desire  for  excellence.  The  impression  thus  received,  even  before  the 
tenth  year  of  life  had  been  reached,  proved  lasting,  and,  as  ]\Ir.  Griggs 
believes,  has  been  a  more  abiding  and  more  beneficent  influence  than  all 
that  has  been  felt  in  the  years  succeeding.  A  good  mother,  faithful  to  her 
trust,  seldom  fails  to  make  of  her  son  a  good  man.  The  plastic  character 
of  the  child  yields  to  her  forming  hand,  and,  when  manhood  has  come, 
the  outline  she  gave  it,  filled  out  and  rounded,  and  hardened  into 
firmness,  is  still  there. 

The  parents  had  intended  that  their  son  should  be  thoroughly  educated, 
and  he  himself,  as  he  advanced  in  life,  had  fixed  upon  a  literary  career  as 
his  choice.  Until  the  age  of  fourteen,  his  advantages  were  such  as  the 
New  England  boy  usually  enjoys,  in  the  district  and  Sunday  schools;  in 
his  own  case,  enlarged  through  the  instructions  of  his  mother  at  home. 
From  fourteen  to  nineteen,  he  A\as  most  of  the  time  at  school  in  various 
academies  and  seminaries,  and  at  the  time  of  finally  abandoning  his  course 
of  study,  in  consequence  of  a  failure  of  health,  was  prepared  for  the  third 
year  in  college.  In  his  school  relations  he  showed  that  same  ambition 
and  resolute  purpose  which  has  characterized  his  later  career.  A  prize 
offered  to  his  class,  whether  for  superiority  in  the  classics,  or  in  any  of  the 
more  public  school  exercises,  was  a  temptation  which  he  could  never 


SAMUEL   C.   GRIGGS.  301 

resist,  lie  was  always  a  conipi'titor,  and  always  siicccssi'ul.  Tlio  iiilenso 
application  induced  by  this  constant  and  (•(>n.-nniin<;-  desire  fur  excellence 
in  scholarship,  and  by  his  interest  in  study  ibr  its  own  sake,  at  length  so 
atFected  his  health  that  it  was  found  impossible  for  him  to  proceed.  Mid- 
way in  his  course  he  was  checked  and  turned  aside.  A  new  plan  of  life 
had  to  be  lormeil,  a  new  choice  made. 

It  is  characteristic  of  Mr.  Griggs  that,  in  selecting  a  business  calling, 
instead  of  the  literary  one  he  at  first  had  in  view,  he  kept  still  in  mind 
his  original  purpose,  and,  though  compelled  to  lind  a  different  road,  never 
lost  sight  of  the  end.  The  change  itself  was  at  the  cost  of  many  a  bitter 
regret.  It  was  a  consolation  to  feel  that  there  were  parallel  courses  to 
that  which  he  had  been  compelled  to  abandon,  and  that  into  the  new 
pursuit  he  could  carry  the  purpose  with  which  his  early  teachings  had 
inspired  him,  and  which  had  strengthened  with  the  lapse  of  years — that 
whatever  his  calling,  it  must  at  least  be  one  which,  while  realizing 
])ersonal  aims,  should  be  a  sphere  of  usefulness,  and  enable  him  to 
influence  for  good,  both  morally  and  intellectually,  all  whom  he  could 
reach.  Actuated  by  these  views,  and  guided  by  a  good  Providence,  he,  in 
the  twentieth  year  of  his  age,  began  in  the  book  trade  at  Hamilton,  New 
York,  the  seat  of  what  is  now  Madison  University.  The  small  country 
book  store  in  which  his  first  venture  was  made,  he  purchased  upon  credit, 
lie  had  never  been  for  a  single  day  in  any  mercantile  house,  as  clerk  or 
otherwise,  and  had  no  experience  in  business,  Avhatever.  It  seems,  as  one 
looks  back  upon  it,  like  a  somewhat  hazardous  scheme  for  a  youth  not 
yet  twenty  years  old.  But  it  was  a  man  in  his  right  place;  admirable 
faculty  finding  suitable  sphere  and  scope.  It  was  a  small  beginning,  but 
a  good  and  sound  one,  and  had  in  it  the  augury  of  success  from  the  start. 

At  Hamilton,  Mr.  Griggs  remained  some  six  years.  In  that  time  he 
had  established  a  business  character  highly  appreciated,  not  only  there, 
but  in  the  commercial  centres  of  the  land.  A  leading  Xew  York  pub- 
lisher, Mr.  Mark  H.  Newman,  had  especially  noticed  him.  Perceiving 
in  him  talent  and  enterprise  that  must  soon  demand  a  wider  sphere,  ]\lr. 
Newman  projiosed  to  him  a  partnersliip.  He  first  offered  to  associate 
h:.n  with  himself  in  New  York,  upon  e(pial  terms,  Mr.  Griggs  to  giv(>  his 
notes  for  his  share  of  the  common  capital.  Mr.  Griggs,  however,  declining 
to  involve  himself  in  this  way,  he  then  offered  to  furnish  the  entire 
capital,  and  proposed  a  business  which,  with  its  centre  at  New  York, 
should  have  a  branch  at  New  Orleans.     He  offered  to  bind   hiuisclf    in 


302  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

writing,  that  his  partner  should  receive  four  thousand  doUars  a  year, 
Avhether  his  share  of  the  profits  amounted  to  this  or  not,  and  that  he 
should  be  expected  to  remain  in  New  Orleans  only  nine  montlis  in  each 
year.  Those  were  the  days  of  slavery,  and  Mr.  Griggs  found  it  impossible 
to  reconcile  himself  to  the  idea  of  such  a  close  personal  contact  with  that 
bad  institution,  and  the  social  system  born  of  il,  as  a  residence  in  a  city 
like  New  Orleans  must  involve.  This  ofiPer,  therefore,  was  also  declined. 
Mr.  Newman  then  wrote  that  Mr.  Griggs  could  not,  of  course,  expect  to 
remain  in  Hamilton.  It  was  a  field  much  too  narrow.  To  seek  a  wider 
sphere  was  a  manifest  duty,  and  in  his  judgment  the  change  should  be 
made  without  delay.  As  New  Orleans  had  been  declined,  Mr.  Newman 
proposed  Chicago,  saying  of  it,  with  singular  forecast,  considering  that  his 
words  ^vere  written  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  that  it  was  a  place 
destined  one  day  to  be  second  only  to  New  York.  To  this  proposal  Mr. 
Griggs  agreed,  and  accordingly,  in  1848,  came  to  Chicago  and  opened 
business  as  a  partner  of  Mr.  Newman. 

It  is  a  highly  pleasing  indication  of  the  character  which  ISIr.  Griggs 
had  established  in  Hamilton,  both  as  a  business  man  and  a  cultivated 
Christian  gentleman,  that  not  only  the  citizens  of  that  place,  but  the 
faculty  of  the  University,  used  every  means  to  retain  him  there.  The 
Professors  held  a  special  meeting  upon  the  subject,  prompted  by  a  con- 
viction of  the  very  great  importance  to  a  literary  institution  of  a 
well-managed  book-trade  in  its  vicinity,  and  appointed  one  of  their 
number  to  express  to  him  their  strong  desire  that  he  should  remain, 
pledging  themselves  that  all  books  issued  by  them  should  be  given  to 
him  for  publication,  if  desired.  This  incident  shows  what  pleasant 
relations  had  already  come  to  exist  between  Mr.  Griggs,  the  citizens  of 
Hamilton,  the  students  and  faculty  of  the  University.  Neither  was  the 
place  without  its  attractions,  social  and  literary.  But  the  young  merchant 
had  wider  views.  That  spirit  was  moving  in  him  which  has  pushed 
abroad  into  the  newer  portions  of  this  great  country  the  men  who  have 
there  built  up  mighty  communities  and  flourishing  cities.  It  was  in  his 
heart  and  in  his  destiny  to  share  in  that  work.  The  purpose  of  his  life 
demanded  the  broad  field  it  found,  and  in  that  field  has  never  neglected 
to  seize  and  use  the  opportunities  it  sought. 

In  the  year  1848,  then,  Mr.  Griggs  became  a  citizen  of  Chicago, 
commencing  here  that  business  career  which  has  since  so  steadily  pro- 
gressed.     We   cannot   undertake   to   sketch    its    history  in  these  pages. 


SAMUEL   C.  GRIGGS.  303 

Much  niiiy  be  intbrreil  iVoiu  the  I'uct  tliut  while  in  the  llrst  year  his  sules 
amounted  to  only  $23,000,  at  present  the  amount  of  his  yearly  trade  is 
not  far  from  a  million.  Much  will  he  suggested  also  to  those  who  may 
have  had  occasion,  fii'tecn  or  twenty  years  ago,  to  visit  his  small  store  at 
111  Lake  street,  and  who  might  now  go  to  see  him  at  the  magnificent 
establishment  at  39  and  41  of  the  same  street,  the  most  extensive,  with  two 
or  three  exceptions,  in  the  United  States,  and  worthy  to  rank  with  aiiv 
upon  either  continent.  Other  suggestions  will  be  gained  by  even  a  cursory 
survey  of  the  present  stock  in  trade.  Even  a  stranger,  both  to  him  and 
his  history,  would  infer  from  what  the  shelves  and  counters  must  disclose, 
that  the  controlling  spirit  there  is  not  one  of  money -getting  alone,  or 
chiefly;  but  that  the  proper  aim  of  the  book  merchant  has  been  clearly 
seen  and  energetically  adopted.  The  book  is  there  evidently  looked  upon 
not  merely  as  an  article  of  barter,  nor  does  one  discover  signs  that  those 
books  are  held  of  chief  account  which  will  sell  most  quickly  and  with 
the  largest  profit.  One  perceives  that  there  is  a  purpose,  not  to  feed  a 
depraved  public  taste  and  grow  rich  faster  by  the  moans,  but  to  cultivate 
a  pure  and  correct  taste,  by  offering  the  kind  of  literature  which  readers 
ought  to  prefer  and  to  seek.  The  literature  of  the  age  is,  indeed,  repre- 
sented in  all  its  branches,  while  that  of  the  older  ages  survives  in  works 
which  are  the  choice  legacy  of  centuries  past  to  our  own;  but  just  because 
it  is  so  complete,  the  collection  there  found  becomes  in  itself  a  means  to 
suggest  and  educate  right  ideas  of  literature  and  of  books. 

It  is  unusual  to  find  in  a  general  book  store  so  many  rare  and  expen- 
sive w'orks  as  are  found  in  that  of  which  we  speak.  In  a  recent  visit  to 
Europe,  Mr.  Griggs  enriched  his  stock  greatly  by  purchases  of  this  kind, 
especially  in  London,  Edinburgh  and  Brussels.  Art  and  literature  alike, 
and  in  their  choicest  specimens,  are  represented  in  these  masterpieces  of 
the  older  authors  and  artists,  as  well  as  the  later  ones,  furnished  in  forms 
the  most  attractive.  Many  of  these  works  must  of  necessity  be  compara- 
tively slow  of  sale;  many  of  them  arc  very  costly.  They,  like  much  else 
which  one  finds  here,  were  not  meant  as  a  speculation,  but  to  render  more 
complete  the  outfit  of  an  establishment  the  whole  aim  of  which  is  to 
combine  the  personal  ends  of  business  with  the  higher  entls  of  a  public 
service.  It  is  proper  to  add  that,  in  the  particulars  to  which  wc  hero 
allude,  Mr.  Griggs  has  in  his  partners,  Messrs.  E.  L.  Jansen,  D.  B.  Cooke, 
A.  C  McClurg,  and  F.  B.  Smith,  gentlemen  like-minded  with  himself. 
Mr.  Jansen  has  been  a  member  of  the  firm  for  more  than  eleven  vears. 


304  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

His  admirable  business  talents  have  contributed  largely  toward  the 
developnieut  of  this  wide  and  prosperous  trade.  The  others  named  have 
become  partners  more  recently.  Mr.  Griggs  has  a  right  to  feel,  in 
reviewing  his  business  career  in  the  past,  and  in  contemplating  the 
advantages  of  his  position  in  the  present,  that  the  noble  ambition  of  his 
youth  has  by  no  means  been  disappointed.  Turned  aside  from  pursuing 
it  in  one  direction,  he  has  found  another,  and  is  permitted  to  know  that 
in  this,  also,  literary  distinction  and  the  rich  rewards  of  wide  and  lasting 
usefulness  are  gained. 

In  his  personal  relations,  Mr.  Griggs  is  a  liberal  citizen,  a  Christian 
who  believes  that  God  is  served  in  business  no  less  thau  in  the  church,  a 
steadfast,  generous  friend,  a  gentleman  made  welcome  in  every  circle.  He 
has  a  wide  acquaintance  with  the  literature  which  he  offers  to  the  public, 
and  of  the  merit  of  good  books  can  speak  from  personal  knowledge.  In 
business,  he  is  remarkable  for  sagacity,  readiness  and  decision.  He  can 
venture  largely,  but  seldom  ventures  unwisely.  He  looks  at  business  in 
its  broadest  relations,  and  is  able  to  both  plan  and  work  successfully  upon 
a  great  scale.  His  own  literary  taste  is  exceedingly  delicate  and  accurate, 
and  his  talent  for  original  composition  such  as  would  have  justified  him 
in  expecting  success  in  a  literary  career,  had  his  early  purpose  to  that 
effect  not  been  defeated.  Some  of  his  friends  have  been  allowed  access  to 
a  series  of  letters  written  home  by  him  during  a  tour  of  four  or  five 
months  in  Europe,  in  the  year  1866.  They  evince  a  rare  power  of  both 
seeing  and  describing,  and  should  the  importunity  of  his  friends  prevail 
upon  him  to  publish,  there  would  be  another  added  tb  the  very  siiiall 
number  of  books  of  travel  that  are  worth  reading.  Dui'ing  the  visit  to 
Europe  of  which  mention  has  just  been  made,  Mr.  Griggs  formed  many 
valuable  acquaintances  among  leading  publishers  in  Great  Britain  and  on 
the  Continent.  From  Mr.  Henry  G.  Bohn,  of  London,  he  received 
numerous  polite  attentions,  as  also  from  the  veteran  publisher,  Mr.  John 
Murray,  Trubner  &  Co.,  Longman  &  Green,  and  Routledge,  Bell  &  Daldy, 
of  the  same  city,  and  from  Messrs.  Blackwood  &  Sons,  of  Edinburgh. 

In  this  connection  we  may  be  permitted  to  copy  a  passage  from  the 
"American  Literary  Gazette  and  Publishers'  Circular,"  recognized  as  the 
leading  publication  of  its  class  in  this  country:  "Mr.  Griggs,  the  senior 
member  of  this  great  Northwestern  book  house,  is  one  of  those  gentlemen 
of  whom  the  whole  trade  is  proud.  His  intelligence,  enterprise,  integrity, 
and  many  estimable  personal  qualities,  have  acquired  for  him  a  jjopularity 


SAMUEL   C.  GRIGGS.  305 

ni)t  derivc'il  rroiu  any  lactilious  circu instances,  but  a  jtci-niaiiciit  and  spon- 
taiuH)iH  trihiite  to  his  merit.  In  his  recent  visit  to  the  East,  the  liearty 
and  respectful  welcome  which  he  every  where  received  should  teach  the 
younger  members  of  the  trade  that  the  best  road  to  prosperity  and  honor 
is  in  the  path  of  fair  dealing,  energy  and  uprightness." 

Mr.  Griggs  has  always  been  a  hard-working  businass  man,  and  that 
in  spite  of  a  frailness  of  constitution  that  has  partly  resulted  from  the 
injudicious  application  to  study,  in  youth,  of  which  we  have  spoken.  He 
is  slender  in  form,  and  impresses  the  observer  as  a  man  by  no  means 
robust;  yet  his  resolute  purpose,  and  his  power  of  dispatch,  carry  him 
through  a  vast  amount  of  work.  He  is  now  in  the  meridian  of  his  life, 
and  his  friends  cherish  for  him  the  hope  of  yet  many  more  yeai's,  to  be 
crowued,  as  the  past  have  been,  with  prosperity  and  usefulness. 


^A^ti^*"^^^^ 


JAMES  H.  HOES. 


An  even  life,  unmarked  by  the  flashes  of  genius,  or  the  excitement 
of  political  struggles,  may  be  uninviting  to  the  ambitious  youth;  it  may 
lack  brilliant  and  sharply  defined  outline,  yet  in  the  sum  of  all  its  parts 
it  is  more  harmonious,  and  better  adapted  as  a  pattern  for  those  entering 
upon  life's  duties  and  responsibilities.  To  this  class  belongs  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  James  H.  IIoes,  Esq.,  an  eminent  citizen,  a  successful 
merchant,  and  a  true  man. 

Mr.  Hoes'  ancestors  upon  the  paternal  side  Asere  from  Holland.  His 
grandfather  was  an  ardent  and  inflexible  Revolutionary  patriot,  serving  in 
the  ranks,  and  sacrificing  his  estate  to  the  interests  of  American  liberty. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  of  comfortable  means,  but  not  wealthy,  tilling  a 
small  farm  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  in  the  little  village  of  Stuyvesant 
Landing.  His  mother  sprang  from  an  old  and  wealthy  Connecticut 
family.  They  were  honest,  hard-working.  God-fearing  people,  and  made 
it  the  prime  object  of  their  lives  to  bring  up  their  family  of  four  children 
in  a  comfortable  and  respectable  manner.  They  gave  them  the  benefits 
of  the  best  common  school  education,  and  impressed  upon  their  youthful 
minds  the  importance  of  religion,  conscientiously  training  them  for  the 
after-strugo-le  of  life. 

The  subject  of  this  sketcn  was  born  at  Kinderhook,  Columbia  County, 
New  York,  June  30,  1821.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  decided  that  he 
could  be  of  more  advantage  to  himself  and  his  parents  by  ceasing  to  be  a 
burden  upon  them  and  earning  his  own  living.  He  accordingly  lefl 
school  and  hired  himself  out  to  a  neighboring  farmer,  and  by  his  industry, 
conscientious  application  and  aptness,  he  soon  performed  his  labor  with  all 
the  success  of  older  and  more  experienced  men.  At  this  period  of  his 
life,  he  was  often  solicited  by  his  friends  to  go  to  New  York  and  study 


308  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

for  the  ministry,  but  his  strong  home  attachments  and  his  desire  to  be 
of  assistance  to  his  parents  induced  him  to  decline  these  solicitations. 

In  1837,  his  father  sold  the  little  farm  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  who 
married  a  cousin  of  the  former,  and  moved  further  Avest,  to  Bradford 
County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  bought  a  larger  farm,  mainly  to  give  his 
children  better  opj)ortunities.  James  was  not  so  strong  a  boy  as  his 
younger  brother,  but  what  he  lacked  in  physical,  he  made  up  in  mental 
ability.  His  accurate  knowledge  of  the  details  of  farm  labor,  and  quick 
perceptions  as  to  the  readiest  and  best  methods  of  j)erforming  it,  not  only 
made  theirs  the  model  farm  in  that  region,  but  brought  his  services  into 
requisition  among  the  neighbors. 

The  incessant  and  arduous  labor  of  the  farm,  however,  soon  began 
to  tell  upon  a  constitution  naturally  not  robust,  and  one  day,  in  the  hay- 
field,  he  threw  down  his  rake  and  determined  to  seek  some  occupation  less 
laborious.  He  consulted  with  his  parents.  They  Mere  at  first  reluctant 
to  lose  him,  but  finally  consented.  Packing  his  scanty  wardrobe  in  a 
handkerchief,  as  so  many  others  have  done,  he  trudged  off  on  foot  to 
Towanda,  and  on  the  route  settled  in  his  mind  that  he  would  launch 
his  bark  in  the  jewelry  business.  He  went  to  the  best  watch  establish- 
ment in  tlie  place,  and  offered  his  services.  They  were  refused.  Nothing 
daunted  by  the  refasal,  he  laid  his  case  before  the  proprietor  in  a  few 
simple,  honest  words.  He  was  anxious  to  learn  a  trade.  He  had  chosen 
the  jewelry  business.  He  would  make  himself  useful,  and  he  did  not  m  ant 
any  pay  until  his  employers  were  satisfied  he  had  earned  it.  Impressed 
with  the  earnest,  straight-forAvard  manner  of  the  boy,  Mr.  Langford,  the 
proprietor,  employed  him.  It  was  not  long  before  jSlr.  Langford  recog- 
nized his  sterling  qualities  of  industry,  and  his  interest  in  him  advanced 
correspondingly.  The  youth  rapidly  mastered  the  details  of  the  business. 
His  employer  made  him  presents  of  money  and  clothes,  and  as  older  men 
went  out,  advanced  him  to  higher  positions.  In  one  year  from  the  time 
he  had  commenced,  he  offered  him  an  interest  in  the  business,  which  he 
declined,  preferring  to  wait  until  he  was  thoroughly  competent  to  take 
charge  of  the  work. 

In  the  summer  of  1840,  Mr.  Langford  sold  out  and  removed  to  Xew 
York,  where  he  proposed  establishing  himself  in  business,  with  Mr.  Hoes 
as  a  partner.  This  time,  a  long  illness  prevented  the  consummation  of 
this  arrangement,  and  before  his  thorough  recover}^,  Mr.  Langford  had 
removed  to  Xew  Jersey,  and  ]\lr.  Hoes  resumed  his  trade  with  a  watch 


JAMES   H.   HOES.  309 

maker  named  Wilson,  at  Oweoo,  Tioga  County,  New  York.  lie  ^^■as  a 
very  superior  workman,  and,  appreeiatinjj;  the  young  man's  abilities,  made 
him  his  superintendent.  Alter  remaining  in  this  establishment  two  years, 
Mr.  Hoes  removed  to  Binghamton,  Xew  York,  and  commenced  business 
on  his  own  account,  and  with  good  success.  Shortly  after,  Mr.  Wilson 
ottered  his  shop  and  stock  for  sale.  Mr.  Hoes  bought  them,  removed 
again  to  Owego,  and  was  now  in  possession  of  the  finest  establishment  in 
that  section  of  the  country.  His  close  attention  to  business,  and  systematic 
method  of  labor,  coupled  with  his  inflexible  honesty,  resulted  in  complete 
success.  His  purchase  was  speedily  paid  for  out  of  the  profits  of  the 
business,  and  life  opened  before  him  a  bright  prospect,  which  was  still 
more  brightly  illumined  by  a  happy  marriage  contracted  at  this  period — a 
marriage  which  has  resulted  in  mutual  happiness  from  that  day  to  this. 

From  Owego,  the  family  removed  to  Dansville,  Livingston  County, 
New  York,  where  Mr.  Hoes  pursued  his  business  for  eight  years,  with 
the  same  degree  of  success  which  had  always  attended  his  efforts.  About 
this  time  the  Western  fever  was  raging  in  New  York  and  New  England. 
The  young  men  in  the  overcrowded  cities  were  leaving  by  hundreds  for 
the  new  cities  and  villages  of  the  great  West,  ^\here,  by  honest  and 
indefatigable  toil,  and  by  growing  with  the  growth  of  the  country, 
fortunes  and  reputation  could  be  achieved  more  easily  than  in  the  old 
cities  of  the  East. 

Mr.  Hoes  caught  the  Western  fever,  and  with  his  fiimily  removed  to 
^lilwaukee,  where  he  aided  by  his  practical  knowledge  and  business 
ability  to  build  up  one  of  the  largest  jewelry  establishments  in  that  city. 
Mr.  Hoes  felt,  however,  that  his  sphere  of  usefulness  Avas  too  confined  in 
Milwaukee,  and  believing  that  he  could  do  better,  both  for  himself  and 
his  family,  in  a  larger  place,  came  to  Chicago  and  purchased  the  stock  of 
Hoard  &  Avery,  117  Lake  Street.  He  was  without  a  partner  for  a  time, 
but  subsequently,  and  for  four  years,  he  was  in  connection  with  Hon. 
Samuel  Hoard,  our  well-known  citizen  and  recent  Postmaster.  At  the 
period  of  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  he  was  again  alone. 

At  this  time,  the  universal  impulse  Mliich  was  given  to  business 
throughout  the  North  was  felt  in  Chicago,  and  extended  even  to  those 
branches  of  business  which  had  no  direct  influence  upon  the  progress  of 
the  war.  Mr.  Hoes'  trade  ra])idly  increased  u])on  his  hands,  and  at  last 
compelled  him  to  ta.ke  a  partner.  Mr.  Matson,  his  old  partner  in  Mil- 
waukee, assumed  a  share  of  the  business,  the  partnership  expiring  in 


;;j  310  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

January,  1867.  Mr.  Hoes  had  now  been  engaged  in  the  jewehy  business, 
without  intermission,  for  thirty  years,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and 
had  acquired  reputation  both  as  a  workman  and  a  merchant  which  had 
resulted  in  the  accumulation  of  a  handsome  fortune.  He  had  arrived  at 
that  age  when  the  majority  of  men  desire  to  cast  off  some  of  the  cares  and 
responsibilities  of  life,  and  sjDcnd  the  remainder  of  their  days  in  compara- 
tive ease.  He  made  a  proposition  to  sell  out  his  interest  in  the  business 
to  his  partner,  Mr.  Matson,  which  proposition  was  accepted.  But  the  old 
habits  and  associations  of  thirty  years'  formation  were  not  so  easily  to  be 
broken.  Mr.  Hoes'  fixed  principles  of  industry,  and  his  active  habits, 
rendered  it  impossible  for  him  to  step  out  of  the  channels  of  business. 
"When,  therefore,  the  Northwestern  Silverware  Company  offered  him  the 
management  and  superintendence  of  their  establishment,  he  accepted  the 
situation.  The  company  will  find  his  practical  knowledge  of  the  business, 
and  his  efficient  managerial  abilities  of  inestimable  value. 

We  have  thus  rapidly  sketched  the  principal  points  of  interest  in  the 
commercial  life  of  Mr.  Hoes,  a  life  crowned  with  remarkable  success, 
especially  considering  that  he  has  had  to  contend  throughout  his  whole 
business  career,  against  the  impedimenta  of  a  constitution  by  no  means 
robust.  The  two  prominent  elements  which  have  aided  him  to  achieve 
this  success  were  unflagging  industry  and  the  application  of  a  strict,  impar- 
tial code  of  morality  to  all  his  dealings.  The  jewelry  business  presents 
unusual  opportunities  for  large  profits  and  the  deception  of  customers,  as 
few  but  connoisseurs  and  experts  are  judges  of  the  quality  of  the  articles 
on  sale.  Mr.  Hoes  never  resorted  to  these  dishonest  practices.  His  Avord 
was  always  his  bond. 

Apart  from  his  business  life,  Mr.  Hoes  is  eminent  in  all  that  con- 
tributes to  make  up  the  good  parent  and  citizen.  His  private  life  is 
unspotted.  He  has  always  been  prominent  in  every  good  word  and  work, 
charitable  to  the  poor,  and  entering  with  hearty  sympathy  into  every 
philanthropic  movement.  At  the '  time  of  the  first  Sanitary  Fair  held  in 
Chicago,  towards  which  Mr.  Hoes  was  a  liberal  contributor,  he  offered  to 
give,  through  the  managers,  a  gold  watch  to  the  person  making  the  most 
valuable  donation  to  the  Fair.  It  happened  that  the  Emancipation  Pro- 
clamation, presented  by  President  Lincoln,  realized  $3,000,  and  A\'as 
decided  to  be  the  most  valuable  donation.  Mr.  Hoes,  therefore,  selected 
an  elegant  watch  and  forwarded  it  to  the  President,  through  Hon.  I.  N. 
Arnold,  then  member  of  Congress  from  this  District,  for   which   Mr, 


JAMES    II.    TIOKS.  311 

Liiu'olii  rL'tunied  his  tluuiks  in  a  flianK'teristic!  letter  to  him,  whidi  is 
now  a  precious  memento  of  the  martyred  President.  JJut  it  Wius  not 
alone  the  Sanitary  Fairs  that  shared  in  Mr.  Hoes'  well  directed  liberality. 
Diirin:^  the  entire  war,  he  contributed  largely  in  aid  of  the  loyal  ciiuse, 
both  by  his  advice  and  from  his  purse. 

Although  Mr.  Hoes  has  been  a  resident  of  Chicago  for  many  years, 
and  has  been  often  solicited  to  take  official  positions  of  honor  in  the 
political  world,  he  has  invariably  refused;  while  in  connection  with 
charitable  and  religious  associations,  he  has  filled,  and  now  occupies 
important  offices.  He  Avas  one  of  the  incorporators — organizing  and 
placing  upon  a  sure  foundation  the  St.  Luke's  Free  Hospital,  and  he  is 
now  Treasurer  of  the  institution.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Diocesan 
Conventions  of  New  York  and  Wisconsin,  and  Warden  of  St.  James' 
Church,  Milwaukee.  Since  his  residence  in  Chicago,  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Vestry  of  St.  James'  Church,  and  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Diocesan  Convention  was  made  a  member  of  the  Missionary  Board 
for  Illinois. 

In  all  the  elements  -which  make  a  useful  man  and  a  good  citizen, 
Mr.  Hoes  may  stand  as  a  model  to  the  rising  generation.  He  can  look 
back  upon  an  unstained  life,  conscious  of  having  accomplished  much 
good  in  the  world.  Although  his  life  has  moved  quietly  along  in  the 
pursuits  of  business,  unmarked  by  striking  incidents  or  stirring  events, 
such  as  happen  in  the  lives  of  public  men,  he  has  accomplished  what  few 
can  boast,  and  that  is — the  faithful,  manly  discharge  of  all  his  obligations, 
moral  and  social.  He  has  never  stooped  to  consider  questions  of  expe- 
diency, but  has  invariably  arrayed  himself  upon  the  side  of  liberty,  truth 
and  justice,  whether  that  side  was  in  the  ascendency  or  otherwise,  and, 
bringing  this  fine  moral  sense  to  bear  upon  all  questions,  whether  political, 
social  or  commercial,  he  has  made  his  life  consistent  and  harmonious, 
and  we  trust  may  long  be  spared  to  the  community  of  which  he  is  so 
useful  a  member. 


SAMUEL  H.  KEEFOOT. 


Of  the  many  substantial  interests  of  a  growing  city  like  Chicago,  all 
will  concede  that  real  estate,  its  landed  wealth,  constitutes,  if  not  the 
most  important,  at  least  one  of  the  jnost  prominent.  In  all  cities  this 
department  of  their  weal  and  development  commands,  as  it  should,  the 
attention  of  capitalists  and  operators  generally. 

The  growth  in  value  of  the  real  or  landed  property  of  any  city  or 
country  is  not  attributable  to  chance  or  mere  accident.  Wisdom  is  shown 
on  the  part  of  those  who,  having  the  faculty  of  discerning  the  natural 
advantages  of  a  particular  locality,  manifest  a  willingness  to  expend  their 
means  in  developing  them. 

It  is  not  a  mere  boast,  Avhen  -sve  say  that  Chicago  has,  by  her  unprece- 
dented ra])idity  of  growth,  furnished  a  rare  chance  for  money-making  in 
this  particular.  Such  being  the  case,  a  representative  man  in  this 
department  will  be  looked  for  in  our  work;  and,  in  making  the  selection, 
we  know  of  none  more  fitting  than  the  one  whose  name  we  have  already 
given. 

Samuel  H.  Kerfoot  has  been  in  Chicago  since  the  autumn  of 
1848 — now  nearly  twenty  years.  He  came  here  designing  to  select  it  as 
a  place  of  residence,  feeling  an  abiding  confidence  in  the  fact  that  a  city 
located  at  the  head  of  inland  navigation,  possessed  of  the  best  liarbor  on 
the  Lakes,  the  outlet  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal — the  great  point 
of  concentration  of  the  whole  Northwest,  coupling  with  the  richness  and 
varied  ])roductiveness  of  an  immense  territory,  the  advantages  that  must 
spring  from  the  railroad  system  then  taking  possession  of  the  country — 
could  not  fail  to  increase  largely  her  population  and  wealth. 

Mr.  Kerfoot  was  born  of  Irish  parents,  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania, 


314  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

December  18,  1823,  and  educated  at  St.  Paul's  College,  near  New  York 
city,  a  justly  celebrated  school,  founded  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  ]\Iuhlenberg. 
After  leaving  there,  he  was  engaged  under  his  brother,  now  the  Episcopal 
Bishop  of  Pittsburgh,  in  founding  and  building  up  St.  James'  College, 
Maryland. 

He  combined  with  the  advantages  of  a  literary  and  classical  education, 
derived  from  study,  and  teaching  many  years,  a  rare  turn  for  active 
and  systematic  business.  This  talent,  brought  to  the  AVest,  with  his 
intellectual  culture,  gave  to  the  subject  of  our  sketch  special  advantages, 
which  have  shown  themselves  in  his  career. 

On  coming  to  Chicago,  Mr.  Kerfoot,  for  the  first  two  or  three  years, 
engaged  in  other  practical  pursuits,  but  soon  turned  his  attention  to  the 
development  of  real  estate;  and  perhaps  no  one  in  Chicago  has  made 
more  subdivisions,  graded  more  streets,  or  supervised  and  managed  more 
real  estate,  than  the  gentleman  whose  portrait  ])recedes  this  article. 

When  he  embarked  in  the  business,  he,  with  great  providence,  foresaw 
that  in  order  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  such  a  vocation,  a  good, 
intelligent  and  systematic  foundation  must  be  laid.  The  long  lines  of 
books,  the  number,  variety  and  perfectness  of  the  maps,  the  complete 
machinery  and  system  of  his  office  arrangements,  but  above  all  the 
elegant  and  elaborate  Atlas  of  Ciiicago,  in  two  large  volumes,  of  which 
he  was  the  first  })rojector  and  compiler,  bear  testimony  to  the  skill  with 
which  he  has  carried  out  his  plans  in  this  regard. 

Mr.  Kerfoot  has,  for  many  years,  managed,  here,  the  extensive 
landed  interests  of  the  estate  of  D.  Lee,  of  New  York,  and  by  his  lay 
co-operation  with  the  legal  talent  employed,  brought  the  famous  suit  of 
Chickering  et  al.  versus  Fade,  executor,  etc.,  to  a  successful  issue  for  the 
estate.  The  same  thing  is  true  touching  his  connection  with  Ridgeley's 
Addition  to  Chicago,  which  Mr.  Kerfoot  has  had  charge  of  for  twelve 
years  past.  The  title  having  been  attacked,  he,  in  his  lay  capacity,  was 
largely  instrumental  in  its  complete  vindication. 

He  has  also  managed  the  extensive  and  valuable  property  of  Messrs. 
Macalester  and  Gilpin,  who,  purchasing  at  the  Canal  Sales  at  an  early 
day,  have,  under  ISIr.  Kerfoot's  wise  management,  reaped  a  satisfactory 
harvest.  From  this  estate  he  procured  the  donation  to  the  city,  and  the 
planting  and  improving,  of  "Vernon  Park,"  on  the  West  Side. 

Mr.  Kerfoot  has  not  been  a  mere  land  agent.  His  culture  fitted  him 
for  a  semi-legal  calling,  and  hence  during  his  long  and  intimate  connection 


SAMUEL   H.   KERFOOT.  315 

with  real  estate,  its  sale  and  inaiiai;enient,  lie  has  become  conversant  Avitli 
our  real  estate  laws,  and  j)efl"(rtly  iiuuijiar  with  that  traditionary 
information  rei>;arding  the  various  tracts,  additions  and  subdivisions 
comprised  MJthin  and  adjacent  to  the  limits  of  the  city,  which  only  can  be 
acquired  by  a  j)ractical  and  intelligent  intercourse  of  long  standing. 

In  a  city  like  Chicago,  where  real  estate  brokerage  constitutes  so 
im[)ortant  a  branch  of  business,  an  organization  naturally  was  made 
among  those  who  were  so  engaged.  In  1853,  a  Board  of  Real  Estate 
Brokers  was  organized;  Mr.  Kerfoot  was  then  the  efficient  Secretary  and 
Manager  of  it.  From  1857  onwards,  business  being  dull,  the  number 
of  real  estate  brokers  faded  away,  and  few  besides  Mr.  Kerfoot  maintained 
their  ground.  He  has  been  uninterruptedly  engaged  thus  for  nearly 
sixteen  years  past.  In  1855,  with  the  revival  of  speculation  in  this  line 
of  business,  came  the  consequent  increase  in  the  number  of  brokers,  and 
a  desire  for  a  revival  of  the  organization.  It  was  accomplished,  and 
Mr.  Kerfoot  was  at  once  chosen,  and  is  now,  the  President  of  the  Board 
of  Real  Estate  Brokers  of  Chicago. 

^Vith  real  estate  is  naturally  connected  a  love  of  horticulture, 
arboriculture  and  landscape  gardening.  In  this  particular  Mr.  Kerfoot 
has  indulged  extensively,  and  has  shown  great  taste  and  skill.  His 
elegant  grounds,  just  north  of  the  city,  on  the  Lake  shore,  bear  testimony 
to  the  fact.  His  extensive  carriage  drive,  shaded  by  magnificent  ever- 
greens of  his  own  planting,  and  crossing  ponds  and  bridges  of  his  own 
devising;  the  arbors  and  steps  constructed  in  rustic  work  of  rare  beauty, 
all  tend  to  make  a  visit  to  his  grounds,  at  Lake  View,  a  rare  treat.  Such 
grounds  are  probably  not  to  be  seen  west  of  the  Hudson.  Mr.  Kerfoot 
has  })rocured  from  the  Legislature  the  law  authorizing  the  location  in  the 
town  of  Lake  View  of  a  ])ark,  which  may  cover  six  luindred  and  forty 
acres.  If  the  plan  proposed  l)y  him  and  his  co-Commissioners  under  thp 
law  is  carried  out,  the  projected  park  will  be  second  to  none  in  this 
country,  except  the  Central  Park,  of  New  York. 

In  this  way  Mr.  Kerfoot  has  been  engaged  in  everything  connected 
witli  real  estate  and  its  development  so  incessantly  and  extensively  that 
his  name  has  become  synonymous  with  the  term  "Cliicago  real  estate." 

Mr.  Kerfoot's  pen  has  not  been  idle.  He  has  contributed,  at  various 
times,  some  of  the  finest  articles  on  the  commercial,  manufacturing  and 
financial  growth  of  our  city  that  we  remembei-  to  liavc  I'cad.  His  views 
are   sound  and  philosophical,  and  his   conclusions   toucliing  the   general 


316  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

interests  of  Chicago  have  uniformly  been  clear.  His  pamphlet,  "Chicago 
the  Commercial  and  Financial  Centre  of  the  Northwest,"  commanded 
very  "vvarm  encomiums  and  was  largely  quoted. 

In  church  matters,  also,  Mr.  Kerfoot  has  been  actively  engaged.  He 
is  an  Episcopalian,  and  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Bishop  Clarkson  before 
the  ordination  of  the  latter.  A  vacancy  occurring  in  the  rectorship  of 
St.  James'  Church,  in  this  city,  soon  after  Mr.  Kerfoot's  arrival  here,  he 
procured  the  call  of  Mr.  Clarkson  (now  Bishop  of  Nebraska)  to  the 
parish. 

His  pen  has  been  used  to  some  purpose  in  this  line  also.  His 
pamphlet,  "Bishop  AVhitehouse  and  the  Diocese  of  Illinois,"  showing 
great  familiarity  with  the  ecclesiastical  matters  of  the  Diocese,  is  a  most 
able  production, 

Mr.  Kerfoot  is  a  married  man,  with  an  interesting  family,  whom  he 
has  surrounded  Avith  every  refining  influence.  He  has  one  of  the  finest 
private  libraries  and  some  of  the  best  pictures  in  Chicago.  His  home  is 
the  resort  of  many  of  our  best  amateur  musicians,  who  are  always  made 
welcome  by  himself  and  his  accomplished  wife,  whom,  in  early  life,  he 
married  in  Maryland  and  brought  here  with  him. 

Possessed  of  a  cheerful  dis})Osition,  he  is  respected  by  all  who  know 
him.  Liberal  to  the  poor,  Avith  a  heart  that  is  warm  to  every  benevolent 
enterprise,  we  doubt  not  he  will  continue  to  grow^  in  the  affections  of 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  him.  He  is  of  an  active  temperament, 
of  excellent  judgment,  always  speaks  to  the  point,  and  no  man  in  the  city 
appears  to  be  more  busily  engaged  at  all  times  than  he.  Of  a  healthy 
constitution,  he  will  apparently  live  long  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  labors. 


WILLIAM  HEATH  BYFORD. 


\ 


The  profession  of  medicine  is  not  behind  that  of  the  law  or  of 
literature  in  men  who  have  risen  from  obscurity  to  honorable  distinction, 
and  achieved  success  in  spite  of  adverse  circumstances.  Xor  are  they  less 
worthy  of  "honorable  mention."  As  there  is  no  profession  more  benefi- 
cent, so  there  is  none  more  entitled  to  commendation  for  excellence,  or 
applause  for  success. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  one  of  those  who  are  set  down  by 
biographers  as  illustrative  of  the  adaptation  of  our  institutions  to  the 
necessities  of  impoverished  genius, 

William  Heath  Byford  is  the  son  of  Heniy  T.  and  Hannah  Byford, 
and  was  born  on  the  20th  of  March,  1817,  in  the  village  of  Eaton,  State 
of  Ohio.  During  his  infancy  his  parents  removed  to  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio  River,  the  spot  where  afterwards  ^s•as  planted,  and  now  stands,  the 
town  of  New  Albany.  Four  years  later,  in  1821,  the  family  removed  to 
Hindostan,  a  village  in  Martin  County,  State  of  Indiana.  Here,  w  hen 
AVilliam,  the  eldest  of  five  children,  had  reached  the  ninth  year  of  his 
age,  his  father  died,  leaving  to  his  family  nothing  save  the  recollection  of 
a  heroic  struggle  with  poverty  which  he  was  not  able  to  overcome — unless 
indeed,  we  except  those  qualities,  both  of  body  and  of  brain,  which, 
although  lackiug  in  polish,  were  the  very  essence  of  durability  and 
strength.  These  were  transmitted  by  the  fiither.  Mho  had  a  naturally 
vigorous,  though  not  a  trained  or  a  cultivated  intellect.  What  he  lacke<l 
in  academical  education  he  made  up  in  large  sense  and  mental  energy. 
Upon  this  inherited  foundation  the  son  built  au  a<-(|uired  superstructure 
of  rare  grace  and  commanding  proi)orti(»ns. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  William  had  been  a  pupil  in  tlic 


318  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

country  school  about  two  years,  and  since  that  thiie  the  extent  of  his 
"schoolins:"  has  not  been  more  than  four  months:  for  filial  duty,  as  well 
as  liis  own  innate  sense  of  self-reliance,  called  him  to  the  side  of  his 
mother,  who,  without  him,  would  have  been  left  single-handed  to  struggle 
with  poverty.  And  the  mother's  fidelity  incited  that  of  the  son.  Mental 
culture  must  needs  be  held  in  abeyance  that  the  staff  of  life  may  be 
secured.     The  faithful  mother  still  survives  in  robust  health. 

And  so  to  the  boy,  athirst  for  knowledge,  a  lover  of  books,  and 
ambitious  to  rise,  there  seemed  impending  a  life  of  manual  toil,  if  not 
slavish  drudgery;  for  an  aspiring  mind  he  had  at  this  early  age,  and  a 
self-respect  as  ^vell  as  a  self-reliance,  that  made  the  Goddess  of  Success 
adopt  him  as  a  child  worthy  of  her  favorable  regard.  While  the  sight  of 
a  book  fired  him  with  ambition,  the  consciousness  of  his  straitened  circum- 
stances filled  him  with  energy.  Day  after  day,  for  five  years,  he  "went 
forth  to  his  labor  until  the  evening,"  which  he  spent  in  mental  toil  instead 
of  physical  rest.  Late  to  bed  and  early  to  rise  was  his  amendment  of  the 
old  saying,  for  he  knew  that  in  such  a  rule  lay  his  only  hope  of  reaching 
those  intellectual  attainments  for  which  he  had  an  insatiable  desire.  If 
night  was  turned  into  day,  day  was  made  still  more  of  a  day,  for  the  boy 
was  as  faithful  with  the  implements  that  brought  bread  to  his  fatherless 
home  as  with  the  books  that  brought  enjoyment  and  encouragement  to 
his  ambitious  mind. 

Such  he  was,  and  such  was  his  manner  of  life,  when  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  tailor  in  Palestine,  Illinois,  with  whom 
he  remained  for  two  years,  and  then  Avent  into  the  employ  of  another 
tailor  at  Vincennes,  Indiana,  under  whom  he  toiled  four  years  more. 

As  time  rolled  on,  the  boy,  or  rather  the  man,  developed.  As  he  grew 
in  years  he  grew  in  character.  Fidelity  to  his  employer  did  not  abate  his 
fidelity  to  himself.  If  he  plied  his  needle  faithfully  "  from  sun  to  sun," 
he  might  have  been  found  equally  devoted  to  his  books  during  "the 
small  hours  of  the  morning." 

It  was  during  his  apprenticeship  that  the  manliness  of  his  character 
was  developed,  as  well  as  the  culture  of  his  mind  commenced.  His  com- 
panions were  in  the  habit  of  courting  the  society  of  the  children  of  the 
wealthy,  taking  every  opportunity  to  admire  their  better  clothes  and  to 
pay  sycophantic  tribute  to  their  better  breeding  and  higher  social  rank. 
This  stung  the  boy  William  to  the  quick.  His  pride  was  touched,  and  his 
manly  spirit  was  inflamed  with  a  scornful  indignation.     He  openly  refused 


WILLIAM   HEATH   BYFORD.  319 

to  associate  ultli  boys  w  ho  ]ku1  so  little  sell-respeet,  deeliniiio'  |)aiti<'i]>atiun 
in  such  jmsillanimous  l)ehavior.  lie  Mould  be  alone  rather  than  be  so 
base.  He  would  compel  the  respect  instead  of  angling  i'ur  the  patronage 
of  the  sons  of  the  "ruling  class."  lie  would  compel  them  to  honor  his 
brains  as  much  as  his  companioirs  honored  their  superior  dress.  While 
they  might  grow  up  to  a  life  of  inefficiency,  occasioned  by  luxury,  he 
would  show  them  a  career  of  prosperity  and  usefulness  cradled  in  destitu- 
tion. They  might  be  superior  to  him  in  wardrobe,  but  he  would  excel 
them  in  knowledge. 

Doubtless  tbistrait  in  the  boy  had  much  to  do  with  the  making  of  the 
man.  It  is  so  universally.  Self-respect  has  elevating  power,  and  where 
it  is  accompanied  with  a  strong  will  and  vigor  of  intellect  it  is  a  certain 
means  of  its  possessor's  advai:cement.  With  it,  ordinary  endowments  may 
be  made  very  effective.  Without  it,  extraordinary  ones  mav  igno- 
miniously  fail.  It  is  an  inspiriting  spur  in  the  flank  of  ambition.  It 
created  motive  power  in  the  boy  Byford  to  reflect  how  much  superior  an 
intellectual  is  to  a  social  distinction,  for  he  could  not  but  see  how  the 
latter  may  be  the  result  of  circumstances  over  Avhich  we  have  no  control, 
while  the  former  must  be  the  consequence  of  circumstances  wdiich  are 
exclusively  under  our  control,  nay,  which  we  ourselves  create. 

Xeccssity  is  the  mother  of  industry  as  Avell  as  of  invention.  ^Xevcr 
was  boy  more  industrious  than  young  Byford,  and  never  was  industry 
more  suitably  or  satisfactorily  rewarded. 

It  was  during  his  apprenticeship  that  he  acquired  an  education  Mhich 
many  a  college  graduate  has  found  impossible  to  accomj)lish.  A\'ith 
Kirkham's  English  Grammar  and  a  dictionary,  he  mastered  the  structure 
of  his  native  tongue.  He  acquired  a  respectable  knowledge  of  Latin ; 
learned  to  read  the  Greek  Testament,  and  became  sufficiently  versed  in  the 
French  language  to  speak  as  well  as  read  it.  He  studied  history,  geogra- 
phy, natural  philosophy,  chemistry,  and  physiology  with  special  care 
and  pains,  besides  reading  other  branches  to  such  an  extent  as  his  time  and 
opportunities  allowed.  His  mind  was  quick,  acute  and  wakeful — acquired 
with  facility,  devoured  with  avidity  and  digested  with  the  utmost  ease. 

The  "pursuit  of  knowledge  under  difficulties"  is  not  often  more 
impressively  or  pathetically  illustrated  than  in  the  case  of  this  pertina- 
cious physician  in  embryo,  who  would  work  all  day  for  his  employer,  and 
nearly  all  night  for  himself.  Long  after  the  conventional  "bed  time,"  he 
would  make  little  articles  of  apparel,  or  do  a  job  of  repairing,  that  he 


320  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

might  earn  the  wherewithal  to  purchase  the  books  that  were  necessary  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  studies.  The  book  he  studied  by  intense  snatches 
Avas  spread  open  between  his  crossed  legs  on  the  tailor's  bench,  where  not 
only  the  garment  he  was  sewing,  but  the  industry  with  which  he  sewed  it, 
concealed  the  clandestine  designs  of  the  apprentice  from  the  jealous  eye 
of  the  master.  He  did  his  share  of  labor,  while  actually  spending  as 
many  hours  of  the  twenty-four  in  the  study  of  sciences  and  the  languages 
as  are  required  of  college  students. 

Nor  are  we  surprised  to  learn  that  our  subject  thinks  he  accumulated 
more  knowledge  under  these  seemingly  adverse  circumstances  than  he 
would  have  done  in  the  same  length  of  time,  engrossed  exclusively  with 
study.  Some  men,  like  some  plants,  grow  with  a  vigor  proportionate  to 
their  obstructions.  The  young  acanthus,  like  the  young  man  of  ambitious 
projects,  is  stoutened  by  rejiression.  '*  Strong  grows  the  oak  in  the 
sweeping  storm." 

Our  times  and  country  are  abundant  in  men  of  noble  renown,  who, 
but  for  the  obstacles  which  in  early  life  they  were  compelled  to  surmount, 
would  have  languished  in  mediocrity  or  sunk  into  oblivion.  Genius  is 
irrepressible,  and  the  combinations,  whether  by  circumstances  or  society,  to 
repress  it,  may  be  the  sole  cause  of  its  exaltation.  Opposition  develops 
strength  which  would  otherwise  have  remained  dormant,  and  reveals  to 
oneself  a  mettlesome  intrepidity  of  which  avc  had  been  hitherto  uncon- 
scious. Self-reliance  is  promoted  by  its  battle  with  ill-fortune.  The  most 
favorable  circumstances  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  phrase  may  be 
the  most  unfavorable  for  the  development  of  that  self-dependence  without 
which  eminence  is  unattainable,  and  a  high  degree  of  success  utterly  out 
of  the  cpiestion. 

It  is  easier  to  believe  and  easier  to  demonstrate  that  poverty  did  not 
hinder,  than  that  affluence  would  have  helped  young  Byford  in  his  efforts 
to  acquire  an  education  and  to  excel  in  a  profession.  He  is  indebted  for 
his  success  to  his  irrepressible  pluck. 

Nor  must  the  fact  be  overlooked  that  while  there  was  a  prodigious 
expenditure  of  vitality  on  needle  and  book,  there  was  no  waste  of 
substance  on  riotous  living.  If  "the  drunkard  and  the  glutton  shall  come 
to  poverty,"  the  abstemious  and  frugal  shall  inherit  liappiness  and  fame. 
If  idleness  begets  vice,  industry  is  a  safeguard  against  vicious  courses. 
Young  Byford  had  neither  the  inclination  nor  the  time  for  self-indulgence. 
"While  the  trophies  of  Miltiades  would  not  let  him  sleep,"  the  exertion 


WILLIAM   HEATH   BYFORD.  321 

required  to  secure  tluMu  would  uot  suffer  him  to  look  upon  tlu'  cup  wliirh 
"at  the  last  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like  an  adder."  Whih; 
many  another  youth,  superior  to  him  in  advantages,  was  tarrying  at  the 
dram  cup  till  "he  was  out  of  the  way  with  strong  drink,"  h(>,by  a  life  of 
self-ilenial  and  self-respect,  was  prei)aring  himself  for  usefulness  and 
eminence. 

About  eighteen  months  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  appren- 
ticeship, he  resolved  to  follow  the  bent  of  his  ambitiou  and  devote  himself 
to  medicine.  He  Avas  enamored  of  "the  science  of  life  and  death,"  and 
gave  his  mind  to  it  Avith  zest  and  zeal.  No  books  had  such  fascination 
for  him  as  the  medical  books,  and  no  profession  so  attracted  and  inspired 
him  as  that  of  a  physician. 

He  had  a  mental  love  for  his  favorite  science,  and  a  humane  design  in 
its  pursuit.  He  searched  for  physiological  secrets  as  for  hidden  treasure, 
and  plunged  into  the  study  of  the  Materia  Medica  with  an  enthusiasm  that 
comes  of  a  benevolent  heart  as  well  as  an  inquisitive  head.  He  was  not 
more  devoted  to  man  as  a  scientific  enigma  than  as  the  suffering  victim  of 
a  hundred  ills.  He  was  not  more  fascinated  by  the  "fearfully  and 
wonderfully  made"  machine  than  prompted  by  benevolence  to  keep  it  in 
"running  order." 

The  love  of  science  is  a  noble  enthusiasm,  but  the  "enthusiasm  of 
humanity"  is  nobler  and  more  sublime  by  far.  The  physician  who 
follows  his  profession  with  merely  the  avidity  of  a  scholar  may  excite 
the  admiration  of  the  learned  faculty,  but  the  physician  who  combines  a 
passion  for  his  profession  with  a  hearty  symj)athy  with  the  sick,  has  his 
reward  in  the  gratitude  of  his  fellows  and  the  benediction  of  his  Maker. 
If  an  "undevout  astronomer  is  mad,"  an  inhumane  physician  is  the  last 
of  men  to  consult  in  the  hour  of  distress.  And  while  it  bodes  no  good 
to  the  race  when  the  flippant  and  frivolous  "study  medicine,"  it  is  a 
circumstance  to  be  noted  with  hopeful  satisfaction  when  the  conscientious 
youth  devotes  his  life  to  this  beneficent  profession. 

There  was  too  much  gravity  in  young  Byford's  life  to  allow  any  levity 
in  his  mind.  He  was  in  earnest  from  the  first  and  will  be  in  earnest  to 
the  last.  He  is  earnest  by  nature,  made  more  so  by  experience,  and  he 
went  about  the  j)reparation  for  his  ])rofession  with  that  sobriety  of  soul 
which,  when,  as  in  this  instance,  it  is  accompanied  by  a  vigorous  mind, 
resolute  })urpose  and  studious  habits,  makes  the  assurance  of  success 
doubly  sure. 


322  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Amid  all  the  disadvantages  and  discouragements  we  have  recited,  the 
young  tailor  commenced,  and  for  eighteen  months  prosecuted,  his  reading 
of  medicine.  At  niglit,  when  he  required  rest,  he  pored  over  his  books. 
During  the  day  his  head  did  the  work  of  a  student  while  his  hands  did 
the  Avork  of  an  apprentice.  But,  if  this  was  the  jDursuit  of  medical 
knowledge  under  difficulties,  its  effect  was  to  store  away  the  knowledge 
deeper  in  the  understanding  than  it. could  otherwise  have  reached. 

What  we  acquire  by  the  favor  of  circumstances  is  not  so  likely  to 
endure  as  what  we  acquire  in  spite  of  them.  If  "stolen  waters  are 
sweet,"  stolen  knowledge  is  sweeter.  If  the  wickedly  covetous  prize 
their  gains  the  higher  for  being  gained  at  great  hazards,  the  honorably 
ambitious  hold  on  with  no  less  tenacity  to  what  they  acquire  through 
perils  and  privations. 

Young  Byford  laid  good  foundations  and  laid  them  well,  whether 
sitting  on  the  tailor's  bench,  or  at  his  table  in  liis  chamber.  So  that, 
when  his  apprenticeship  closed,  which  it  did  when  lie  was  twenty  years  of 
age,  he  was  as  ripe  as  lie  was  eager  for  that  exclusive  application  to  his 
new  and  higher  apprenticeshijj,  which  he  secured  under  the  guidance 
and  guardianship  of  Dr.  Joseph  Maddox,  of  Vincennes,  Indiana. 

"Witli  this  gentleman's  instructions  added  to  his  own  industry,  our 
medical  student  went  forward  in  tlie  patli  of  acquisition  with  rapid  strides, 
and  when  another  eighteen  months  of  reading  liad  elapsed,  he  passed  an 
examination  which  convinced  the  three  eminent  physicians  who  examined 
him  of  his  fitness  for  his  profession  and  of  his  resolve  to  excel  in  it. 

He  began  his  practice  in  Owensville,  Gibson  County,  Indiana,  on  the 
8th  of  August,  1838.  But  he  was  even  then  more  the  student  than  the 
practitioner  of  medicine.  The  rigid  habits  of  study  which  he  acquired 
in  his  apprenticeship  were  of  incalculable  service  to  him  now  that  he  was 
launched  in  a  profession.  His  book  was  his  companion  still.  He  read  it 
over  again.  He  made  himself  familiar  with  books  that  were  new  to  him, 
and  more  thorough  in  studies  that  were  old  to  him.  He  read  on 
horseback,  while  going  his  professional  rounds  among  the  farm-houses. 
He  read  by  daylight  and  candlelight,  as  had  been  his  custom  when  plying 
his  irksome  trade. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1840,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Holland,  daughter  of  Dr.  Hezekiah  Holland,  and  removed  to  Mt.  Vernon, 
Indiana — events  which  contributed  at  once  to  his  encouragement  and 
incitement  on  the  path  he  had  chosen.     His  wife  died  on  the  3d  of  March, 


WILLIAM   HEATH   BYFORD.  323 

■f 
1804,  after   having  lor  luarly  :i   quarter  of   a  ecntury  been   a  Avii'e  and 
mother  of  most  amiable  disposition,  exeel lent  judgment  and  self-sacrificing 
conduct. 

The  part  borne  by  the  wife  in  the  struggles  of  the  aspiring  husband 
is  sekloni  descanted  upon,  and  is  rarely  given  the  place  it  deserves  in  the 
history  of  sucessfnl  ambition.  But  they  of  the  eminent  are  not  few  in 
mimber,  who,  like  Dr.  Byford,  attribute  a  large  share  of  their  success  to 
the  hands  and  hearts  at  home,  that  "without  wrath  or  doubting"  stayed 
up  theirs. 

And  so  the  young  physician  worked  on  with  unremitting  perseverance 
for  about  seven  years,  when,  in  1845,  he  applied  for  and  obtained  a 
regular  graduation  and  an  accredited  diploma  from  the  Ohio  Medical 
College.  Then  back  to  his  Avork  he  went  again,  with  that  industry  and 
persistency  wliicli  had  now  become  his  second  nature.  His  practice 
increased  as  his  fame  extended.  To  hear  of  him  Avas  to  send  for  him,  and 
to  know  him  was  to  make  him  "the  family  physician."  He  now  began 
to  reaj)  the  fruits  of  his  long  and  laborious  season  of  sowing  and  planting. 
The  seed  time  had  passed,  the  harvest  time  had  come. 

In  1847,  Dr.  Byford  })erforraed  and  published  an  account  of  that  great 
surgical  operation  denominated  the  Csesarean  section.  This  was  followed 
by  contributions  to  the  medical  journals,  A\hich  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  medical  community,  and  gave  their  author  a  respectable  re])utation 
f"or  literary  acquirements,  intellectual  penetration,  medical  knowledge  and 
scientific  accuracy. 

In  October,  1850,  lie  was  elected  to  tlie  chair  of  Anatomy  in  the 
Evansville,  Indiana,  Medical  College,  which  he  tilled  with  ability  and 
fidelity  for  two  years,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  chair  of  Theory  and 
Practice  in  the  same  institution.  This  he  occupied  until  1854,  when  the 
luljege  came  to  an  end.  During  his  professorship  at  Evansville,  he  was 
elected  by  his  colleagues  one  of  the  editors  of  a  medicid  journal,  which 
was  obliged  to  die  when  the  faculty  was  obliged  to  dissolve,  and  ibr  the 
-iiiiie  reason,  deficiency  in  financial  support. 

In  May,  1857,  Dr.  liyford  was  chosen  Vice-President  «»f  the  American 
Medical  Association,  then  assembled  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year,  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  and 
1  )iseases  of  Women  and  Children  in  Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chiciigo, 
\acated  by  Dr.  John  ICvans,  one  of  the  ablest  j)hysicians  as  well  as  one 
"I"  the  oldest  settlers  of  the  city,  now  United   Slates  Senator-elect  irom 


324  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Colorado.  Dr.  Byford  occupied  tliis  position  for  two  years,  A\lieii,  in 
conjunction  with  several  other  medical  gentlemen,  he  aided  in  founding 
the  Chicago  Medical  College;  himself  taking  the  same  position  he  had 
previously  held  in  Rush  Medical  College — Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of 
Women  and  Children — which  position  he  still  continues  to  fill. 

For  several  years  he  was  associated  with  Professor  X.  S.  Davis  in  the 
editorial  management  of  the  "Chicago  Medical  Journal." 

In  1864,  he  pul)lislied  a  work  entitled  "Chronic  Inflammation  and 
Displacements  of  the  Unimpreguated  Uterus,"  which,  besides  being 
received  with  marked  and  universal  approbation,  is  distinguished  as  the 
first  medical  work  that  ever  emanated  from  a  Chicago  author. 

In  1865,  another  and  more  elaborate  volume  came  from  his  pen.  It  is 
entitled  "  The  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  applied  to  the  Diseases 
and  Accidents  incident  to  Women,"  and  has  given  its  author  a  fame  that 
will  endure.  It  is  used  as  a  text-book  in  some  of  the  first  medical 
colleges  of  this  country,  and  regarded  as  good  authority  by  all. 

There  is  no  one  in  the  Nortliwest  whose  judgment  is  regarded  as 
superior  to  that  of  Dr.  Byford  in  the  department  embraced  by  liis  chair, 
and  few  (if  any)  in  the  land  have  a  more  thorough  and  profound 
acquaintance  with  it. 

His  acquisition  of  distinction,  like  his  struggle  for  it,  gives  him  work. 
His  fame  brings  him  o})erations  to  perform  of  the  most  difficult  and 
delicate  character.     He  has  twice  performed  the  Ca^sarean  section. 

He  is  as  skillful  in  the  use  of  laniiuase  in  the  lecture  room  as  in  the 
use  of  the  knife  in  the  dissecting  room.  His  lectures  arc  delivered  in 
that  high  order  of  language  which  combines  perspicuity  with  elegance. 
The  thought  is  readily  detected  and  easily  secured.  There  is  no  parade 
of  words,  no  stilted  diction. 

Dr.  Byford's  writings  and  teachings  are  conspicuously  practical.  He 
is  a  utilitarian,  and  makes  everything — teaching,  writing,  all — bend  to 
the  one  grand  and  simple  object  in  hand — the  training  of  mind  and  the 
imparting  of  knowledge. 

He  is  as  highly  esteemed  for  his  qualities  of  heart  as  he  is  admired 
for  his  talents  and  attainments,  and  is  held  in  equal  estimation  by  student 
and  colleague.  He  can  work  with  the  latter  without  friction,  and 
associate  with  the  former  without  endangering  his  dignity.  He  has  no 
affectation  of  superiority  to  alienate  the  one,  or  haughtiness  of  behavior 
to  repel  the  other. 


WILLIAM   HEATH    BYFORD.  325 

"  Virtue  is  its  own  reward."  Sobrietv  of  life  neutralized  the  effects  of  an 
over  exacting  ambition,  and  a  sanouine  temperament  supported  a  faith  that 
without  it  might  have  fainted  by  the  way.  So  that,  with  the  burthen  of  fifty 
years  upon  him.  Dr.  Byford  is  still  stalwart  in  strength,  erect  in  person, 
and  apparently  as  vigorous  as  ever  in  wisdom  and  understanding.  There 
is  no  decay  in  vitality,  or  decline  in  mentality.  The  brain  holds  its  own 
because  the  body  does.  The  physical  and  intellectual  machinery  keeps 
smoothly  at  its  work.    Such  is  the  benign  consequence  of  a  circumspect  life. 

The  teacher  is  still  a  student.  It  would  be  paying  him  no  higher 
compliment  than  he  deserves,  to  say  that  he  is  no  more  faithful  as  a  teacher 
than  conscientious  as  a  student.  He  is,  and  always  will  be  the  same 
plodding  searcher  after  truth,  counting  "the  merchandise  of  it  better  than 
the  merchandise  of  silver,  and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold."  He  has 
more  ambition  to  acquire  knowledge  than  to  accumulate  wealth,  his 
favorite  maxim  being  "sapientia  est  melior  quan  divitas." 

Dr.  Byford  is  a  conscientious  physician,  and  sturdily  adheres  to  the 
patli  of  rectitude  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  cannot  be  bribed 
into  any  compromise  of  principle  in  the  administration  of  his  remedies, 
or  any  trifling  with  physical  laws  in  the  attempt  to  carry  his  ends.  He 
looks  upon  all  the  "short  cuts"  of  quackery  as  an  impious  tampering  with 
human  life,  and  puts  them  aside  with  scornful  detestation. 

Many  instances  could  be  furnished  of  his  inflexible  loyalty  to  his  sense 
of  duty,  and  his  resistance  of  temptation  in  perplexing  exigencies.  No 
considerations  of  policy,  professional  or  mercenary,  affright  him  from  the 
exercise  of  a  righteous  judgment,  or  deter  him  from  the  expression  of  a 
conscientious  opinion.     In  the  sick  room  he  is  as  candid  as  skillful. 

Such  a  course  must  have  its  reward,  not  only  in  the  consciousness  of 
those  who  pursue  it,  but  in  the  applause  of  those  who  behold  it.  It  is 
nobly  grand  and  grandly  brave.  And  such  conduct  has  its  mission.  It 
does  its  work.  It  shames  the  mountebank,  strengthens  the  young  physi- 
cian in  the  hour  of  temptation,  and  crowns  the  profession  of  medicine 
with  that  honorable  reputation  without  which  it  is  merely  an  arena  for 
empyrics,  and  a  source  of  gain  to  those  who  subsist  upon  human  cridullty. 

With  all  his  honors,  with  all  his  fame,  and  with  all  the  credit  that  is 
due  him.  Dr.  Byford  prefers  privacy  to  publicity,  retirement  to  parade, 
and  the  simple  pleasures  of  his  home  to  the  panegyrics  of  his  fellows. 

He  has  served  liis  generation  so  well  that  its  jjrayers  would  continue 
his  term  of  service  for  manv  vears  to  come. 


GURDON  P.  RANDALL. 


The  great  and  skillful  architect,  whose  works  speak  for  him  in  a  most 
imposing  language,  is  as  sure  an  exponent  of  the  refined  and  progressive 
spirit  and  tendency  of  the  community  which  sustains  him,  and  in  the 
midst  of  which  the  evidences  of  his  ingenious  handiwork  are  displayed,  as 
are  its  school-houses,  its  churches,  and  its  business  activity.  One  of  the 
most  prominent  men  of  this  class  in  our  city  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

GuEDON  P.  Randall  was  born  in  Braintree,  Orange  County, 
Vermont,  February  18,  1821.  His  parents  belonged  to  the  old  style  of 
honest,  staid,  and  industrious  New  England  "Yankees."  There  lived  not 
in  the  State  of  Vermont  a  man  of  greater  moral  rectitude  than  old  'Squire 
Randall,  and  the  son's  early  training  in  this  respect  has  not  been  lost. 
The  only  educiitional  advantages  he  enjoyed  when  a  boy  were  those  of  a 
tirst-class  public  school  in  his  native  town,  the  limited  pecuniary  resources 
of  his  father  not  being  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  send  him  to  college,  as 
he  desired.  In  his  youth,  he  assisted  his  fatlicr  in  the  lumbering  and 
building  trade,  thus  taking  his  first  lessons  in  a  laborious  school,  prepara- 
tory to  entering  upon  the  profession  in  which  he  has  since  gained  sueli 
honorable  distinction.  On  reaching  manhood,  he  was  married  to  Louisa 
Caroline  Drew,  of  Strafford,  Vermont,  who  still  presides  over  his  liouse- 
hold.  On  the  31st  day  of  January,  1867,  they  celebrated  with  j(iy  their 
"silver  wedding" — the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  a  happy  and  pros- 
perous marriage. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two,  Mr.  Randall  moved  to  the  city  of  Boston, 
to  enter  upon  the  study  of  practical  architecture  in  its  higher  dej)artiM('nts. 
Until  the  age  of  thirty,  he  confined  himself  exclusively  to  the  designing 
and  construction  of  churches  and  railroad  buildings,  making  a  specialty  of 
the  latter.     Nearly  all  the  buildings  of  the  Vermont  Central  and  the 


328  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Rutland  and  Burlington  Railroads,  together  with  many  of  those  on  the 
New  York  Central,  and  the  Syracuse  and  Biughampton  Railroads,  are  of 
his  designing,  and  were  supervised  by  him  in  their  construction. 
Subsequently,  he  extended  his  business,  and  gradually  made  the  art  of 
architecture,  in  all  its  various  branches,  his  regular  profession,  having 
jjrepared  himself  for  it  by  hard  study  and  much  practical  experience. 

In  1850  he  removed  to  Syracuse,  New  York,  meeting  with  eminent 
success  in  his  profession  until  1856,  when,  like  many  others,  he  became 
desirous  of  emigrating  to  the  West.  Chicago,  then,  as  now,  oifering 
superior  advantages,  was  selected  for  his  future  home.  On  arriving,  he 
found  formidable  competitors  already  located  here,  such  men,  for  example, 
as  Van  Osdel,  Carter,  Burling,  Boyington,  and  Wheelock,  who,  together 
with  a  number  of  others,  were  doing  a  thriving  business.  For  a  new 
comer  to  successfully  cope  with  such  an  array  of  talent  was  not  an  easy 
matter.  But  one  of  Mr.  Randall's  chief  characteristics  is  that  peculiar 
element  which  will  never  concede  that  there  is  sucli  a  M'ord  as  fail,  so  long 
as  health  and  strength  are  vouchsafed  to  him.  Being  possessed  of  genius 
and  talent,  coupled  with  the  propelling  qualifications  of  perseverance, 
industry,  and  a  strong  will,  he  readily  overcomes  obstacles  that  to  other 
men  Avould  appear  insurmountable.  Mr.  Randall  began  his  career  in 
Chicago  by  seeking  to  build  up  a  business  outside  of  the  city.  Chicago 
being  the  centre  of  Northwestern  commerce,  trade  and  politics,  he  saAv  no 
reason  why  a  first-class  architect  could  not  also  make  it  the  centre  of  his 
business.  A  persevering  eifort  made  in  that  direction  resulted  in  success 
beyond  his  expectations.  While  other  architects  have  surpassed  him  in 
obtaining  Chicago  patronage,  he  has  outstripped  them  all  in  the  country. 
He  has  designed  and  supervised  the  construction  of  more  jjublic  buildings 
in  the  Northwest  than  any  other  architect.  During  the  past  year  he  lias 
employed  at  his  office,  in  Portland  Block,  from  five  to  a  dozen  draftsmen 
at  a  time,  making  plans  and  designs  for  buildings.  On  looking  into  his 
rooms  one  is  reminded  of  a  drav.ing  school,  full  of  students,  with  a 
grey-headed  teacher  at  their  head.  All  are  busy ;  some  making  drawings 
of  massive  fronts  of 'magnificent  palaces,  tracing  the  dimensions  of  dwelling 
houses,  or  making  outlines  of  great  churches,  colleges,  and  court-houses, 
whilst  others  are  writing  out  specifications  and  details  for  all  these  various 
structures.  To-day,  these  draAvings  are  sent  forth,  hundreds  of  miles 
away,  to  some  thriving  town  or  city,  and  to-morrow  finds  Mr.  Randall  on 
the  spot,  giving  all  needful  instructions  to  the  owner  and  builder  of  the 


GURDON   P.   RANDALL.  329 

proposed  edifice.  In  a  few  days  the  excavations  are  finislied  and  the  walls 
rise ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  architect's  plans  are  embodied  in  stone,  brick 
or  wood.     It  is  like  a  dream  become  a  reality — an  ideal  embodied. 

While  Mr.  Randall  makes  plans  and  drawings  for  all  kinds  of  build- 
ings, yet  he  gives  special  attention  to  those  for  public  use,  such  as  court- 
houses, churches,  and  school-houses.  He  is  almost  exclusively  engaged  on 
this  class  of  work.  As  monuments  of  his  skill  in  this  direction,  we  may 
point  to  Plymouth  Church,  a  tine  stone  structure  on  AVaba.sh  avenue;  the 
Eighth  Presbyterian  Church,  recently  built  on  the  corner  of  Robey  and 
Washington  streets;  the  Newberry,  Skinner  and  Haven  public  school 
buildings,  and  several  branch  buildings  of  other  schools.  Indeed,  all  the 
large  Dublic  school  edifices  erected  in  Chicago  subsequent  to  the  Newberry 
School,  were  modeled  after  his  design,  as  there  embodied.  He  also  drew 
the  plans  for  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest,  at  Hyde  Park; 
the  University  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Lake — one  wing  of  which  is  building; 
the  Northwestern  University,  at  Evanston,  now  in  process  of  erection; 
all  three  of  which  are  to  cost  not  less  than  $100,000  each  when  completed. 
He  has  also  designed  numerous  dwelling-houses  in  Chicago,  among  which 
are  some  of  the  finest  on  the  fashional  )le  avenues. 

But  we  must  look  outside  of  Chicago,  to  the  various  towns  and  cities 
of  the  West,  if  we  would  find  the  most  conspicuous  triumphs  of  his 
architectural  skill.  Here  we  find  court-houses,  jails,  school-houses,  college 
buildings,  and  residences,  in  abundance,  which  stand  forth  as  monuments 
of  his  taste  and  genius.  Among  a  legion  of  others,  we  will  select  a  few 
of  the  most  prominent,  to  wit:  The  State  Normal  University,  at  Bloom- 
ington,  (now  called  Normal),  111.;  the  Court  House  at  Jacksonville,  111.; 
Metropolis  College,  Metropolis,  111.;  the  Minnesota  State  Normal  School, 
AVinona;  Wisconsin  Normal  Schools,  at  Whitewater  and  elsewhere.  The 
most  of  these  buildings  will  range  in  cost  from  $85,000  to  $150,000. 
Some  of  the  finest  public  school  buildings  in  the  country  are  from  his 
designs,  as,  for  instance,  the  High  School  at  Aurora,  111.;  one  at  Gales- 
burg;  one  at  Jacksonville;  others  at  Litchfield,  Olney,  Du  Quoin, 
Macomb,  Pekin,  Sycamore;  one  at  Laporte,  Ind.;  at  Winona,  Minn.;  at 
Red  Wing,  Minn.;  Berlin,  Wis.,  etc.,  and  ranging  in  cost  from  $25,000 
to  $80,000,  besides  scores  of  them  in  every  variety  of  style  and  ca|)acity, 
and  ranging  in  cost  from  $1,000  to  $25,000.  He  has  just  designed  a 
building  for  an  academical  school,  called  the  "Jefferson  Liberal  Institute," 
(Univ^ersalist,)  at  Jefferson,   AV'is.;    another,   an   Academy  and   Convent, 


330  BIOGEAPHICAI.   SKETCHES. 

(Catholic,)  called  "St.  Mary's  Academy,"  to  be  built  at  Leavenworth, 
Kansas;  and  another,  the  "Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart,"  to  be  built  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo.  His  designs  for  buildings  for  educational  purposes  are 
received  with  so  much  favor  that  he  is  now  filling  numerous  orders  for 
such  in  various  parts  of  the  Southern  and  some  of  the  Eastern  States. 
Of  churches,  he  has  at  the  present  time  one  building  in  Pennsylvania, 
several  in  this  and  adjoining  States,  and  two  in  Nebraska. 

But  to  give  a  full  list  of  all  the  various  buildings  that  Mr.  Randall 
has  designed  since  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  eleven  years  ago,  would  fill  a 
volume.  We  could  fill  pages  in  simply  noting  the  prominent  edifices 
that  he  has  planned,  and  which  now  stand  as  noble  specimens  of 
architecture. 

So  much  for  the  great  works  of  one  of  our  principal  architects — 
monuments  that  will  stand  for  generations  after  he  has  disappeared  from 
the  active  scenes  of  earth,  but  which  will  perpetuate  his  memory  and 
excite  human  admiration  of  his  skill  through  all  time. 

In  concluding  this  imperfect  sketch,  we  feel  it  due  to  Mr.  Randall  to 
add  that  as  a  citizen  he  is  highly  esteemed,  taking  a  lively  interest  in  all 
that  concerns  the  city's  welfare  and  the  country's  good.  He  is  not  a 
politician  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  never  having  filled  any  office  but  that 
of  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  his  native  town.  In  voting,  it  is  for  men  whom 
he  deems  the  most  capable  for  the  offices  to  be  filled.  He  is  a  temperance 
man  in  theory  and  practice — a  man  of  remarkably  correct  habits  of  life. 
He  prides  himself  on  never  liaving  fallen  into  any  of  the  demoralizing, 
tobacco-using,  whisky-drinking  practices  of  the  age,  or  into  any  of  those 
vices  Avhicli  undermine  the  health  or  the  morals  of  mankind.  He  is  a 
rare  exception  to  the  Western  rule  in  this  respect. 

Physically  speaking,  ]\Ir.  Randall  is  as  noble  a  specimen  as  New 
England,  the  mother  of  natural  noblemen,  has  ever  produced.  Of  stal- 
wart frame — being  over  six  feet  high,  and  "  well-proportioned  " — with  a 
face  that  is  the  very  picture  of  philosophic  good-nature,  and  an  eye  that 
speaks  in  smiles  and  manly  earnestness,  he  would  be  pointed  out  in  a 
multitude  as  being  more  than  an  ordinary  man.  Looking  in  his  face,  a 
stranger  would  trust  him,  and,  trying  him,  would  find  him  a  "friend  in 
need."  He  has  always  enjoyed  robust  health,  having  been  disabled  from 
work  but  once  in  his  life,  and  then  for  only  a  fortnight.  This  measure 
of  health  he  attributes  to  habits  of  temperance,  regularity  in  all  things, 
and  a  quiet  conscience. 


J.  K.  BOTSFORD. 


I 


J.  K.  BoTSFORD,  one  of  the  solid  business  men  of  Chicago,  was  born 
June  12,  1812,  in  Newtown,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.  He 
emigrated  to  Chicago  in  1833,  at  which  time  the  present  great  metropolis 
of  the  Northwest  was  quite  an  insignificant  trading  post.  Previous  to 
coming  here,  Mr.  Botsford  spent  a  couple  of  years  in  New  York  city, 
where  he  Avas  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  a  wholesale  dry  goods  house.  His 
habits  in  early  years,  as  well  as  his  natural  temperament,  were  such  as  to 
create  a  positive  necessity  for  activity  in  business,  and  for  such  surround- 
ings as  would  afford  the  largest  scope  for  his  strong  mental  and  physical 
faculties.  Hence,  though  favorably  circumstanced,  in  many  respects,  in 
New  York,  he  instinctively  turned  his  thoughts  towards  the  great  and 
growing  West.  He  saw  that  here  would  be  a  field  of  enterprise  far 
superior  to  any  found  in  the  over-crowded  cities  and  States  of  the  East, 
and  he  resolved  to  make  his  way  to  Illinois.  Upon  arriving  here,  lie  at 
once  concluded  that  Chicago  wovdd  eventually  become  a  great  commercial 
point,  and  consequently  resolved  to  locate  here.  On  his  way  to  the  West, 
he  stopped  at  Florence,  Ohio,  for  a  few  Aveeks,  where  he  had  relatives 
living.  To  them  he  explained  his  plans  and  purposes,  so  far  a.s  they 
were  matured,  and  expressed  his  unwavering  faith  in  the  future  greatness 
of  the  Northwest. 

From  Ohio  he  visited  Detroit,  Michigan,  where  he  met  with  I\Ir.  Otis 
Hub])ard,  formerly  a  merchant  in  Rochester,  New  York.  An  intimate 
ac(piaintance  was  soon  formed  between  the  parties,  and  togetlier  they 
started  for  Chicago — Mr.  Botsford  with  the  view  of  commencing  business 
here  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible.  The  JDurucy  iVom  Detroit  to  Chicago 
was  performed  in  a  one-horse  wagon,  and  occupied  fifteen  days;  but,  after 


332  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

having  reached  this  point  in  safety,  Mr.  Botsford  felt  that  his  labor  had 
not  been  in  vain,  for  now  he  was  precisely  where  enterprise  would  be  sure 
to  meet  with  its  due  reward. 

Having  fairly  set  down  his  stakes  at  this  point  for  life,  he  commenced 
business  operations  with  that  untiring  energy  Avhich  has  always  been  such 
a  prominent  element  in  his  character.  He  erected  the  first  store  ever 
built  on  Lake  street,  which  Avas  located  on  the  northeast  corner  of  that 
street  and  Dearborn,  and  Avhich  is  now  known  as  numbers  92  and  94 
Lake  street.  He  commenced  the  tin  and  stove  business  during  the  same 
year.  The  lot  on  Avhich  the  store  was  erected  was  owned  by  the  State  for 
canal  j)ur])oses.  It  was  purchased  at  the  sale  that  was  held  in  the  year 
1836,  at  a  cost  of  $22,400,  and  was  eighty  by  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
feet  in  size.  During  the  next  year,  it  was  forfeited  to  the  State.  A  law 
was  afterwards  passed,  however,  reducing  the  price  of  all  lots  one-third, 
and  also  agreeing  to  receive  canal  certificates  in  payment  therefor.  This 
proved  a  great  relief  to  settlers,  and  removed  a  heavy  burden  of  debt 
from  their  shoulders. 

In  1835,  Mr.  Botsford  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  John  Kimball, 
Esq.,  of  jS^aperville.  He  now  has  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  In  1836, 
he  took  into  partnership  with  him  Mr.  Cyreuius  Beers,  and  the  firm  was 
thereafter  known  as  Botsford  &  Beers.  This  partnership  continued  until 
1846,  when  if  was  dissolved,  and  the  business  was  carried  on  exclusively 
by  Mr.  Botsford  until  the  spring  of  1852,  when  he  took  into  partnership 
>\[r.  Mark  Kimball.  From  this  time  they  branched  out  into  the  whole- 
sale liardware  business,  under  the  firm-name  of  J.  K.  Botsford  &  Co.  This 
partnership  continued  until  1860,  when  the  oldest  son  of  Mr.  Botsford 
was  admitted  a  partner,  and  the  name  of  the  firm  was  changed  to 
Botsford,  Kimball  ct  Co.  In  1865,  Mr.  Kimball  retired,  and  the  firm 'is 
now  composed  of  J.  K.,  John  R.  and  Bennet  B,  Botsford,  under  the 
name  of  J.  K.  Botsford  &  Sons. 

The  store  in  which  they  are  now  doing  business,  number  109  Lake 
street,  was  built  in  1838,  and  has  been  occupied  by  Mr.  Botsford  since  the 
year  1840,  but  was  rebuilt  on  the  present  grade  in  1858. 

When  jNIr.  Botsford  first  commenced  business  in  this  city,  his  capital 
was  limited  to  $1,800.  Though  by  no  means  avaricious,  he  is  fond  of 
making  money,  not  to  hoard  u]),  but  to  use  in  all  proper  and  legitimate 
ways.  His  business  talents  and  enterprise,  combined  with  unswerving 
integrity  and  genial  social  qualities,  have  been  handsomely  rewarded  in  a 


J.    K.   BOTSFORD.  333 

pecuniary  point  of  view,  wliile  his  reputation  in   the  community   is  that 
of  an  upright,  honorable,  useful  citizen. 

In  the  spring  of  1859,  he  was  elected  as  Alderman,  in  -which  capacity 
he  faithfully  performed  his  duty  as  a  public  officer.  In  1861,  he  was 
re-elected  to  the  same  position,  and  has  tilled  it,  altogether,  four  years. 
During  the  administration  of  Mayor  Dyer,  he  was  appointed  on  the  Board 
of  Guardians  of  the  Reform  School,  in  which  position  he  displayed  his 
I'haracteristic  energy,  sagacity,  and  regard  for  the  best  interests  of  those 
whom  he  served. 

In  religion,  Mr.  Botsford  is  a  Methodist.  He  was  converted  in  the 
year  1839,  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Peter  R.  Bordin,  in  the  old  Clark 
Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  organization  he  became  an 
active,  useful  member,  and  a  Trustee. 

Although  not  what  would  be  termed  "an  educated  man,"  Mr.  Botsford 
is  amply  qualified  to  discharge  the  relationships  of  business  and  occupy 
a  prominent  position  as  a  member  of  society — which  he  now  is,  and 
I)robably  will  be  to  the  end  of  life.  While  a  youth,  he  enjoyed  the 
benefits  of  a  common  school  education,  such  as  was  offered  to  every 
Connecticut  boy;  and  he  improved  his  opportunities,  not  only  from  an 
inherent  love  of  knowledge,  but  because  of  a  firm  determination  to  fit 
himself  for  the  responsibilities  of  after-life.  His  father  being  a  fiirracr, 
the  services  of  his  son  were  needed  to  a  great  extent  on  the  farm, 
especially  during  the  summer  months;  but  in  the  winter  he  spent  most 
of  his  time  in  intellectual  culture.  His  education  is  of  a  practical  rather 
than  a  theoretical  character.  He  acquires  knowledge  for  the  sake  of  its 
uses,  and  not  simply  that  lie  may  be  thought  book-wise. 

At  one  period  of  his  youth,  his  fiither  was  desirous  of  having  him 
become  a  tailor,  and  more  to  gratify  his  parent  than  from  any  liking  for 
the  business,  he  worked  at  the  trade  for  about  two  years,  at  the  expiration 
of  which  time  his  father  died.  Being  at  that  time  eighteen  years  of  age, 
he  immediately  relinquished  the  needle  and  shears,  and  entered  a  dry 
goods  store. 

As  an  illustration  of  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  education,  we  will 
mention  the  fact  that  Mr.  Botsford  was  one  of  tiie  original  j)rojectors  of 
the  Xorthwestern  University,  at  Evanston,  and  has  always,  up  to  tliis 
day,  been  one  of  its  Trustees  and  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee. 
His  infiucnce,  sagacity  and  pecuniary  aid  have  done  much  towards  bringing 
that  institution  into  existence  and  placing  it  on  its  present  firm  foundation. 


334  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

We  will  also  add  that  Mr.  Botsford  is  a  firm,  consistent  temperance 
man,  and  his  influence  has  ever  been  found  on  the  side  of  total  abstinence 
from  intoxicating  liquors.  In  the  early  history  of  Chicago,  excessive 
liquor  drinking  was  the  rule  with  business  men,  as  well  as  others;  but  an 
exception  was  found  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Botsford.  No  amount  of 
temptation  could  induce  him  to  swerve  from  his  temperance  principles. 

Another  of  his  prominent  characteristics  is  his  regard  for  economy. 
In  this  respect  he  evinces  the  same  sound,  practical  sagacity  that  manifests 
itself  in  all  his  business  qualifications.  He  is  one  among  the  compara- 
tively few  business  men  who  are  economical  without  being  parsimonious — 
who  know  how  to  be  both  frugal  and  liberal.  AVe  state  it  as  a  remarkable 
fact,  also,  that  he  has  never  been  out  of  business  for  a  single  day  since  he 
first  commenced  trade  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Botsford  was  a  witness  to  the  consummation  of  one  or  two 
important  treaties  made  in  1833,  between  our  Government  and  the 
Indians,  who  at  that  time  inhabited  this  and  many  other  portions  of  tlic 
Northwest.  The  Indian  Agent  at  this  post  was  Colonel  Owen,  who  held 
a  council  with  the  Indians  and  perfected  the  treaties  on  the  bank  of  the 
river  at  the  foot  of  Dearborn  street. 

The  lot  on  which  Mr.  Botsford's  store  now  stands  Avas  originally 
purchased  by  him  for  the  sum  of  $2,000.  At  the  present  time  its  market 
value  is  upwards  of  $1,000  per  foot.  His  lot  on  Wabash  avenue,  between 
E,andol])h  and  AYashington  streets,  he  bought  at  Government  sale,  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1839,  f>r  ten  dollars  per  foot.  It  is  now  held  at 
$1,000  per  foot,  and  could  be  sold  at  that  price  very  readily.  These  facts 
are  mentioned  as  additional  evidence  of  the  wonderful  progress  of 
Chicago,  as  well  as  a  proof  of  the  good  judgment  and  great  foresight 
of  Mr.  Botsford  in  selecting  this  city  as  his  abiding  place  at  such  an  early 
day.  The  consequence  is,  that  he  is  now  one  of  our  oldest  and  most 
successful  citizens,  and  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  know  him. 


LEONAPiD  AY.  YOLK, 


In  a  young  city,  as  in  a  new  country,  the  fine  arts  receive  attention  or 
encouragement  only  after  other  arts  have  been  successful  in  making  the 
community  rich  or  prosperous.  This  is  but  a  practical  illustration  of  the 
fact  that  men,  when  sitting  down  to  dinner,  do  not  indulge  in  the 
luxurious  viands  of  the  dessert  until  after  they  have  appeased  the  cravings 
of  the  appetite  with  the  substantial  of  the  feast.  "Business  before 
pleasure,"  is  the  stern  rule  in  all  commercial  communities,  and  especially 
in  a  young  town  or  city  that  looks  to  trade  for  its  vitality  and  to  the 
utilitarian  arts  for  its  growth,  its  prosperity,  and  its  material  advancement. 
Hence  it  is  that  artists  have  to  struggle  with  poverty,  and  in  the  face  of 
threatening  starvation,  in  young  cities,  where  all  other  classes  of  men  are 
jjrosperous.  It  requires  wealth  to  afford,  and  leisure  and  study  to 
appreciate,  the  works  of  the  ingenious  and  skillful  painter  or  sculptor, 
and  therefore  artists  seldom  succeed  in  new  communities  until  those 
communities  have  become  permanently  prosperous — for  not  until  then  do 
people  give  their  thoughts  to  the  beautiful  and  the  ornamental,  as  well  as 
to  the  material  and  useful. 

Chicago  has  as  yet  developed  but  few  great  artists.  Mr.  Healy,  the 
painter,  and  Mr.  Yolk,  the  sculptor,  take  the  lead,  and  our  city  is  justly 
proud  of  them. 

Leox.uid  Wells  Volk  first  established  himself  here  as  a  sculptor 
in  1855 — twelve  years  ago — and  his  career  has  been  an  almost  constant 
struggle  against  discouragements.  Tlic  city  was  young.  Business, 
commerce,  money-making — the  excitements  of  trade  and  speculation — 
monopolized  the  attention  of  the  people,  and  Art  has  had  to  fight  its  way 
in  the  meantime.  Gradually,  however,  has  the  community  come  to 
appreciate  the  genius  and  to  encourage  the  skill  of  the  true  artist,  and, 


336  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

after  years  of  patient  labor  and  heroic  effort,  Mr.  Volk  is  at  last  beginning 
to  realize  the  dreams  of  his  ambition  and  reap  the  rewards  of  his  patience 
and  perseverance.  His  works  now  rank  among  the  best  that  the 
sculptor's  chisel  has  ever  Avronght  in  this  country,  and  his  superior  genius 
and  skill  are  recognized  by  the  judges  and  patrons  of  art  all  over  the 
world. 

Like  nearly  all  men  who  have  become  great  in  their  vocations  or 
professions,  Mr.  Volk  started  out  in  life  a  poor  boy.  His  parents,  once 
in  comfortable  worldly  circumstances,  became  reduced  in  that  respect  by  a 
sudden  reverse  of  fortune,  when  he  was  quite  young,  and,  having  a  large 
family  of  children  to  care  for,  they  never  entirely  recovered  from  the 
lowly  condition  to  which  their  misfortune  had  brought  them.  Young 
Leonard,  Avhen  only  seven  years  of  age,  left  home  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life  on  his  own  account,  and  has  been  struggling,  with  varied 
fortune,  ever  since. 

He  Avas  born  in  Wellstown,  Montgomery  (now  Hamilton)  County, 
New  York,  November  7,  1828.  He  is  a  descendant  from  the  earliest 
settlers  of  New  York,  his  mother,  whose  name  was  Gesner,  being  of  the 
historical  family  of  Anneke  Jantz  Bogardus.  His  father.  Garret  Volk, 
was  a  marble-cutter,  a  trade  in  which  he  perfected  himself  whilst  employed 
in  working  on  the  City  Hall  of  New  York. city.  Here  he  continued  to 
reside  for  several  years,  both  before  and  after  his  marriage,  laboring  at  his 
trade.  He  afterwards  tried  his  hand  at  farm-life,  in  New  Jersey  and 
Northern  New  York,  M'ithout  much  success,  however,  and  finally  removed 
to  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts,  where  he  resumed  his  old  trade.  Leonard 
was  one  of  a  family  of  four  sisters  and  eight  brothers.  Most  of  his  early 
youth  Avas  spent  on  a  farm,  among  the  rocks  and  hills  of  Berkshire,  in  the 
old  Bay  State.  He  worked  like  a  young  slave,  and  suffered  many  hard- 
ships, doing  the  usual  drudgery  of  farm-life,  and  attending  school  a  part 
of  the  year.  He  never  received  more  than  two  or  three  years'  schooling, 
jiartly  owing  to  the  frequent  migrations  of  the  family,  and  partly  on 
account  of  his  being  compelled  to  earn  his  own  living  at  farm-work  while 
a  boy.  His  last  attendance  at  school  was  at  Lanesboro,  INIassachusetts, 
where  he  "graduated"  from  the  district  school-house  in  1844. 

When  sixteen  years  of  age,  after  having  spent  the  better  part  of  eight 
years  on  a  farm,  he  entered  the  marble  manufactory  of  his  father  and 
elder  brother,  in  Pittsfield,  INIassachusetts,  to  learn  the  trade  of  marble- 
.cutting.     After  becoming  sufficiently  skilled  as  an  apprentice,  he  went  to 


LEONARD   W.   VOLK.  337 

Springfield,  in  that  State,  working-  tliere,  and  .-subsequently  at  Pittsfield,  as 
a  journoynian.  At  the  request  of  another  elder  brother,  also  an  artificer 
in  marble,  as  were  all  of  the  brothers  but  two,  he  afterwards  went  to 
Bethany,  Xew  York,  where  he  first  became  acquainted  with  the  beautiful 
young  lady — !Miss  Emily  C.  Barlow — who,  seven  years  later,  became  his 
wife.  He  worked  at  that  place  as  a  j(nirn(yman  for  some  months,  and 
subsequently  in  Batavia,  Rochester,  Albion  and  Buffalo,  being  for  a  while 
engaged  in  partnership  with  his  brother  at  Batavia.  In  the  meantime, 
the  parents  of  Miss  Barlow  removed  to  St.  Louis,  IMissouri,  taking  their 
daughter  with  them.  About  that  time — in  1848 — he  received  an  offer  of 
fifty  dollars  a  month  from  a  marble  establishment  in  that  city,  which  he 
Avas  not  slow  to  accei)t.  Having  an  object  of  love  to  Avork  for,  and  being 
stimulated  by  a  noble  ambition  to  prove  himself  worthy  of  that  object,  he 
labored  with  great  industry,  and  succeeded,  by  over-work,  in  saving 
nearly  five  hundred  dollars  extra  earnings  during  the  first  year  of  his 
service  there.  He  then  rented  a  little  "studio"  of  his  own,  and,  aspiring 
to  something  higher  than  ornamental  carving  and  lettering  of  marble,  in 
which  he  greatly  excelled,  commenced  modeling  in  clay  and  making 
drawings.  One  of  his  first  efforts  was  a  bust  of  Dr.  J.  K.  Barlow,  from 
a  daguerreotype,  hoping  that  Miss  Barlow,  the  object  of  his  affections, 
would  come  and  see  it,  and  admire  and  applaud  his  skill.  Could  the 
genius  and  ambition  of  youth  have  a  more  inspiriting  incentive  to  effort? 
He  persevered  in  his  study  and  experiments  in  this  line  of  art  for  about  a 
year,  with  encouraging  progress,  and  in  the  meantime  made  a  life-size 
copy  of  Hart's  bust  of  Henry  Clay,  the  first  sculptured  bust  in  marble 
ever  executed  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  which  he  afterwards  sold 
in  Louisville,  Kentucky.  He  was  then  commissioned  by  Archbishop 
Kenrick  to  make  two  alto-relievo  medallions,  from  an  ivory  miniature,  of 
Major  Biddle  and  his  wife,  for  their  mausoleum.  But  not  meeting  with 
sufficient  encouragement  in  his  new  undertaking  to  make  it  profitable,  or 
even  to  pay  ex})enses,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  it,  and  to  return  to  his 
trade  as  a  marble-carver  and  letterer,  which  he  did  with  much  zeal,  hoping 
to  earn  and  save  money  enough  in  a  short  time  to  enable  him  to  go  to 
Italy,  there  to  pursue  his  studies  and  perfect  himself  as  a  sculptor,  he 
and  his  friends  having  by  this  time  become  well  convinced  that  he  had  a 
peculiar  genius  in  that  direction.  He  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first, 
to  undertake  the  practice  of  that  difficult  art  west  of  Cincinnati,  and 
could  not  bear  the  thousrht  of  failure. 


338  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

At  about  this  period— in  1852— he  was  married  to  Miss  Barlow,  at 
Dubuque,  Iowa.     Having  now  left  St.  Louis,  to  seek  a  better  and  more 
remunerative  field  for  his  labors,  he  worked  for  some  time  at  Galena,  and 
afterwards  at  Rock  Island.     At  the  former  place  he  one  day  received  a 
visit  from  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  was  at  that  time  in  the  acme  of 
his  personal  and  political  popularity.     Mrs.  Volk's  mother  and  Judge 
Douglas'  fiither  were  brother  and  sister,  and  it  was,  therefore,  quite  natural 
for  the  Judge,  with  his  generous  nature,  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  young 
couple,   who   were  struggling   to   succeed   in   life.     He   strongly  urged 
Mr.  Yolk  to  go  to  Chicago,  wdiich,  being  a  growing  place  and  destined  to 
be  a  great  city,  was,  undoubtedly,  the  place  for  a  young  man  like  him. 
Mr.  Yolk,  however,  returned  to  St.  Louis,  to  give  that  city  another  trial. 
Proving  unsuccessful,  he  again  went  to  Rock  Island,  where,  two  years 
and  a  half  after  the  former   interview,  he  again  met  Judge  Douglas, 
who  then  proposed  to  furnish  him  funds  with  Avhich  to  go  to  Italy,  to 
pursue  his  studies  there  in  the  best  schools  of  art.     The  generous  and 
voluntary  offer  Avas  gladly  accepted,  and,  coming  to  Chicago  in   1855, 
he  at  that  time  adopted  it  as  his  home.     Leaving  his  wife  and  an  only 
child  in  charge  of  his  brother,  in  Pittsfield,  ^Massachusetts,  and  receiving 
his  passport  from  Judge  Douglas,  then  in  the  Senate  at  Washington,  he 
set  sail  for  Europe  in  September,  1855,  on  the  ship  "Columbia,"  from 
New  York.     After  a  long  and  tedious  voyage,  he  reached   Liverpool; 
thence  went  to  London,  remaining  there  a  few  days,  but  long  enough  to 
see  the  Elgin  marbles,  bv  Phidias,  in  the  British  Museum,  and  the  most 
prominent  sculptures  of  that  city;  thence  to  Paris,  where  the  first  great 
French  World's  Exposition  was  in  progress,  remaining  there  one  week ; 
thence  going  to  Rome,  via  the  railroad  to  Marseilles,  by  steamer  across 
the  Gulf  of  Genoa  to  Civita  Yecchia,  and  by  diUgenae  to  the  "  Eternal 
City."     He  spent  most  of  his  time,  during  his  stay  of  a  year  and  a  half  in 
Italy,  in  studying  the  noble  and   sublime  works  of  art  in  the   great 
galleries,  churches  and  studios,  and  drawing  from  the  antique  casts  in  the 
French  Academy.     The  artists  in  Rome — such  men  as  Crawford,  Ran- 
dolph, Rogers,  Bartholomew,  Ives  and  Mozier— received  him  cordially, 
treated  him  kindly,  and  gave  him  the  free  use  of  their  studios.     While 
occupying  Mr.  Ives'  studio,  during  that  artist's  absence  in  this  country, 
Mr.  Yolk  modeled  his  first  statue— that  of  the  "Boy  Washington  cutting 
the  cherry  tree,"  which  was   highly  commended  by  his  brother  artists  in 
Rome.     While  in  that  city,  he  received  a  letter  from  home,  announcing 


LEONARD    W.   VOLK.  339 

the  death  of  liin  little  boy — an  event  which  east  a  eloud  over  the  briiiht 
scenes  in  the  midst  of  which  the  artist  was  then  reveling.  He  left  Konie 
in  January,  1857,  for  Florence,  sojourning  in  that  old  city  of  art  for  a 
few  months,  and  then,  sailiiii;-  from  Leghorn  and  stopping  at  Gibraltar, 
weather-bound,  for  a  coui)le  of  weeks,  reached  New  York  after  a  perilous 
passage  of  seventy-four  days.  He  arrived  in  Chicago  in  June  of  that 
year,  with  only  five  dollars  in  his  pocket — the  sum  and  substance  of  all  his 
earthly  possessions — and  an  untried  (in  Chicago)  profession  to  make  his 
living  from.  Judge  Douglas,  who,  not  only  because  of  the  relationship 
existing  between  them,  but  also  because  he  was  convinced  that  the  young 
artist  had  much  of  talent  and  genius  in  him,  again  came  to  his  assistance, 
and  enabled  him  to  open  a  small  studio,  in  which  he  went  diligently  to 
work,  modeling  busts,  one  of  the  first  of  which  was  that  of  his  friend 
and  patron — the  Judge.  But  1857,  as  all  %vell  remember,  was  a  year  of 
"hard  times,"  and  it  was  impossible  to  interest  people  in  sculpture 
under  such  circumstances;  consequently  our  artist,  ambitious  of  success, 
found  nothing  but  discouragements  for  a  year  to  come;  but  he  cut 
cameo-likenesses  of  his  i'riends,  at  thirty  dollars  each,  to  pay  expenses, 
and  in  the  meantime  made  a  ])ortrait,  life-size,  statue  of  a  boy  in  marble, 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  next  year,  the  memorable 
campaign  for  the  United  States  Senatorshij),  between  Messrs.  Douglas  and 
Lincoln,  opened,  and  Mr.  Volk  received  a  commission  for  a  life-size 
statue  of  Judge  Douglas,  which  paid  him  about  as  that  of  the  boy  above 
mentioned.  This  statue,  however,  Avas  the  nucleus  and  starting  point  of 
.the  first  Fine  Art  Exposition  of  the  Northwest,  which  he  organized  in 
[1859.  It  was  held  in  Burch's  building,  on  the  corner  of  Lake  street  and 
nVabash  avenue.  He  and  a  warm  personal  friend  of  his,  the  Rev.  William 
Barry,  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  were  the  prime 
movers  in  that  creditable  exposition,  ISIr.  Volk  being  appointed  Super- 
intendent of  it  by  the  Board  of  Directors  chosen  by  citizens.  It  was 
a  success,  and  had  a  wonderful  influence  towards  devclo]>ing  a  taste  for 
the  fine  arts  in  this  city.  He  spent  the  winter  of  1860  in  Washington, 
"publishing"  a  statuette  of  Douglas,  (who,  as  he  then  believed,  would 
be  a  candidate  for  the  l*residcncy,)  made  from  sittings  in  Chicago, 
spending  much  time  and  some  money  thereon,  but  even  this  did  not 
prove  profitable;  and  in  that  same  year,  before  the  Presidential  candidates 
had  been  nominated,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  soon  afterwards  nominated 
and  elected  to  the  Presidency,  while  visiting  Chicago  on  legal  business, 


340  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

redeemed  a  promise  he  had  made  to  Mr.  Volk,  two  years  previously,  to 
sit  for  his  bust.  The  sittiugs  were  had  in  the  sculptor's  studio  in  Portland 
Block,  and  ]\Ir.  Volk  produced  an  admirable  bust,  which  he  afterwards 
cut  in  marble,  disposing  of  it,  in  the  summer  of  1866,  to  the  "Crosby 
Art  Association,"  with  the  understanding  that  it  should  be  sent  for 
exhibition  to  the  Great  Exposition  of  1867,  in  Paris,  It  has  since  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  interest  sent  there  from  this  country, 
being  pronounced  a  perfect  likeness,  and  exquisitely  executed.  During 
the  exciting  Presidential  campaign  of  1860,  Mr.  Volk  circulated  his 
busts  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas  all  over  the  country,  with  indifferent  success 
as  regards  pecuniary  results.  Two  months  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  election, 
Mr.  Volk,  while  at  Springfield,  asked  him  for  the  appointment  of  Consul 
at  Leghorn,  but  in  the  midst  of  the  great  national  excitement  which 
followed  his  inauguration  at  Washington,  he  probably  forcj;ot  his  promise; 
at  all  events  another  man  was  appointed. 

In  1861,  Mr.  Volk  spent  most  of  the  Avinter  in  the  first  "Chicago  Art 
Union,"  which  was  gotten  uj)  for  the  benefit  of  the  local  artists.  The 
l^reaking  out  of  the  war  seriously  interfered  with  this  enterprise,  and  the 
proceeds  realized  by  the  artists  did  not  amount  to  mucli. 

When  the  first  call  was  made  for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers, 
after  the  rebel  assault  on  Fort  Sumpter,  Mr.  Volk  enlisted  in  a  company 
of  Chicago  volunteers,  which  was  one  of  a  proposed  regiment;  but  other 
regiments  filled  up  and  were  accepted  before  the  ranks  of  his  were  full, 
and  when  it  was  announced  that  the  quota  was  complete,  he  and  his 
patriotic  comrades  were  "  left  out  in  the  cold,"  and  disbanded.  He  after- 
Avards,  during  the  military  and  naval  excitements  and  movements  at  and 
from  St.  Louis  and  Cairo,  in  company  with  another  artist,  undertook  the 
work  of  painting  a  "panorama  of  the  -war,"  from  sketches  made  in  those 
places,  and  from  other  sources;  but  before  it  was  finished  he  disposed  of 
his  interest  in  the  enterprise  to  his  partner. 

His  next  undertaking  w^as  the  organization  of  the  "Douglas  Monu- 
ment Association,"  to  erect  a  monument  over  the  remains  of  his  great 
friend  and  patron,  who  had  but  recently  died.  Aided  by  Rev.  William 
Barry,  D.  A.  Gage  and  others,  he  pushed  this  work  forward  with  energy 
and  success.  He  was  made  the  Secretary  of  the  Association,  in  which 
capacity  he  has  acted  ever  since,  devoting  much  time  to  the  interests  of 
the  society.  The  Association  accepted  his  plan  for  the  proposed  monu- 
ment, the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  which  was  so  imposingly  celebrated 


i 


LEONARD   W.   VOLK.  311 

in  th(>  autumn  of  1S6G,  and  tlie  first  section  of  which  is  now  in  jji-occss 
of  c(m!?truction  under  liis  superintendence.  By  tlie  request  of  tlie  widow 
of  Judge  Douglas,  Mr.  Yolk  took  charge  of  the  Douglas  grounds  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  city,  and  has  lived  most  of  the  time  since  in  a  cottage 
which  he  now  owns,  once  occupied  by  Douglas,  at  Cottage  Grove. 

In  the  meantime,  ]\Ir,  Yolk  by  no  means  neglected  his  profession,  oi- 
the  general  interests  of  art  in  the  city.  He  has  ever  been  active,  in  con- 
junction with  George  P.  A.  Healy,  the  great  portrait  painter,  in  behalf 
of  art,  and  in  assisting  such  of  his  fellow  artists  as  were  struggling  for 
success.  He  succeeded  in  getting  subscribers  to  purchase  Mr.  Hcaly's 
vahiable  private  gallery  of  paintings,  which  have  been  placed  in  tlie 
keeping  of  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  to  be  held  in  trust  for  the  subscribers. 
A  chartered  association  has  recently  been  formed,  which  will  in  due  time 
open  a  public  Art  Gallery,  with  this  collection  as  a  nucleus.  With  the 
generous  assistance  of  Hon.  John  B.  Turner  and  David  A.  Gage,  Esq., 
he,  in  company  with  another  artist,  leased  the  old  Walker  mansion,  on 
the  corner  of  State  and  Washington  streets,  and  opened  it  as  an  "Art 
Building,"  with  studios,  and  here  Mr.  Yolk,  who  subsequently  bought  out 
the  interest  of  his  associate,  had  his  headquarters  until  recently,  and  now 
permanently  occupies  his  own  elegant  marble-front  building,  arranged  by 
himself  for  business  and  art  purposes,  situate  on  Washington,  between 
Wells  and  Franklin  streets,  Avhich  he  has  erected  at  considerable  exjiense, 
aided  in  the  enterprise  by  his  friend.  Dr.  Ednnnid  C.  Rogers,  brother  of  the 
sculptor  before  named.  At  the  old  place  above  named,  he  made  his  cele- 
bratetl  marble  bust  of  Lincoln,  and  duplicated  the  same,  on  a  commission 
from  a  gentleman  in  Yermont;  also  a  marble  bust  of  Douglas,  and  many 
other  minor  works,  for  citizens  of  Chicago  and  elsewhere.  He  has  paid 
much  attention  to  designs  for  monuments  for  parks  and  cemeteries, 
doing  considerable  sculptured  work  on  them,  as,  for  example,  that  of  the 
Firemen's  Monument  at  Rosehill,  and  several  military  monuments,  one 
of  which  was  ordered  by  Dan  Rice,  the  noted  showman,  at  a  cost  of  five 
thousand  dollars,  which  he  had  erected,  at  his  jiersonal  expense,  at 
Girard,  Pennsylvania,  in  honor  of  the  soldiers  of  Erie  County.  He  had 
previously  executed  a  marl)le  bust  of  Mr.  Rice.  He  lias  also,  M-ithin  a 
few  years  past,  made  many  medallions  for  his  nioiiuinciital  designs,  and 
several  symbolic  and  ideal  figures,  all  of  which  were  executed  in  tlic  linist 
style  of  art. 

Mr.  Yolk  was  the  chief  organizer  and  manager  of  the  Art  Galleries 


342  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

which  forined  so  attractive  a  feature  of  the  two  great  Chicago  Sanitary 
Fairs — one  in  1863,  and  the  other  in  1865 — for  the  aid  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  of  the  war.  Our  citizens  will  not  soon  forget  those 
tastefully  arranged  and  successful  Art  Galleries.  Nobody  knows  to  this 
day,  except  Mr.  Volk  himself,  how  much  time,  care,  labor  and  anxiety 
those  exhibitions,  to  which  he  gave  Meeks  of  gratuitous  attention,  cost 
him;  but  he  felt  himself  more  than  rewarded  by  their  complete  success. 
lie  Morked  in  the  cause  of  art,  doubly  stimulated  by  the  patriotic  object 
for  which  these  fairs  Avere  held,  and  hence  he  found  a  satisfaction  in  it 
tliat  \yords  cannot  express. 

While  his  attention  was  almost  entirely  given,  for  weeks,  to  the  Art 
Gallery  of  the  last  of  the  two  Sanitary  Fairs  above  referred  to,  a  great 
demand  suddenly  sprung  up  all  over  the  country  for  plaster  copies  of  his 
bust  of  Lincoln,  who  had  just  been  assassinated.  He  trusted  the  business 
of  supplying  this  demand  to  employees,  and  consequently  he  failed  to 
realize  as  much  out  of  it  as  he  should  have  done.  Parties  in  New  York, 
and  elsewhere,  also  infringed  his  patent  by  duplicating  the  bust — the  same 
thing  that  was  attempted  in  Chicago  by  itinerant  Italian  figure- venders,  in 
1861,  when  Mr.  Volk,  "taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands,"  entered 
their  shops,  and  broke  to  pieces  all  their,  moulds  and  casts,  for  Avhich  they 
prosecuted  liim  for  *' trespass,"  and  finally  for  "riot,"  but,  failing  to  get 
satisfaction,  have  since  then  carefully  avoided  an  infringement  upon  his 
rights  or  property. 

AVitli  the  imperfect  sketch  already  given  we  must  draw  to  a  close, 
with  the  remark  that,  although,  his  career  has  been  one  of  hardships, 
failures  and  discouragements,  such  as  nearly  all  the  devotees  of  art 
experience  until  they  have  firmly  established  themselves,  yet  the  present 
is  full  of  brightness  for  him,  and  the  future  promises  not  only  temporal 
success  and  good  fortune,  but  an  immortality  which  none  can  more 
gloriously  achieve  tlian  they  who,  by  the  force  of  genius,  chisel  it  into 
the  enduring;  marble  of  the  earth. 


4 


PERRY  li.  SMITH. 


It  is,  A\c  trust,  very  much  too  early  in  the  life  of  the  subject  of  tliis 
sketch  to  give  more  than  the  merest  outline  of  the  principal  events  of  his 
history.  Still  less  than  forty  years  of  age,  in  the  full  possession  of  matui-ed 
powers,  in  a  position  of  large  influence  and  usefulness,  we  may  well  hope 
that  much  the  largest  part  of  his  biography  is  yet  to  be  made,  as  well  as 
to  be  written. 

Perry  H.  Smith  was  born  on  the  28th  of  March,  1828,  at  Augusta, 
Oneida  County,  New  York,  the  son  of  Timothy  Smith,  Esq..  still  an 
influential  business  man  of  Watertown,  New  York.  He  entered  Hamilton 
College  when  thirteen  years  of  age,  retired  one  year  on  account  of  his 
extreme  youth,  and  graduated  the  second  in  his  class,  at  the  ago  of 
eighteen.  He  immediately  commenced  the  study  of  the  la^v  in  the  office 
of  N.  S.  Benton,  Esq.,  Little  Falls,  New  York,  and  continued  wuth  him 
until  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  1849 — on  the  very  day  he  attained  his 
majority.  The  certificate  of  admission  to  the  court  of  last  resort  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  at  that  time,  was  evidence  that  its  holder  wjus 
thoroughly  educated  in  the  elementary  principles  of  his  profession.  The 
esprit  dii  corps  of  the  bar  was  high.  The  Spencers,  Jenkins,  Reynolds, 
Benton,  Denio,  and  other  great  names  in  the  profession,  were  then  in  the 
full  tide  of  tlieir  great  })ractice.  Perry  was  encouraged  by  their  j)ersonal 
kindness  to  him,  and  stimulated  by  examples  of  success  so  brilliant — of 
honors  so  easily  and  so  worthily  worn. 

The  "star  of  empire"  pointed  as  distinctly  to  the  West  in  1850,  when 
Wisconsin  was  nearly  its  extreme  boundary,  as  now,  in  1868,  wlien  it 
rests  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Most  young  men  who 
aspired  to  empire  of  any  kind,   followed  its  direction.     Perry  landed  at 


344  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Kenosha,  AVisconsin,  October,  1849.  He  had  his  twenty-one  years,  a 
good  education,  strong  purpose,  indomitable  energy,  and  the  almost 
boundless  West  for  a  theatre. 

Northern  "Wisconsin  had  just  been  opened  to  settlement  by  a  treaty 
with  the  Indians,  and  the  national  Government  had  made  a  large  appro- 
priation of  lands  to  make  Fox  and  "Wisconsin  Rivers  navigable  from  the 
Lakes  to  the  Mississippi  River.  A  "town"  had  been  "laid  out,"  on 
lands  just  purchased  from  the  Government,  at  one  of  the  large  rapids  of 
the  Fox  River.  A  large  sum  of  money  had  already  been  donated  by 
Lawrence  of  Boston,  to  establish  a  university.  It  had  been  named 
Appleton,  after  him  of  Boston,  who  was  also  a  donor  to  the  school,  and 
it  was  big  M'ith  the  promise  of  future  development.  It  only  needed  an 
energetic,  prudent  and  skillful  worker  and  manager.  It  found  this  in  the 
young  Smith.  In  reaching  the  "town,"  from  jNlilwaukoe,  he  walked  the 
last  twenty  miles  through  the  forest,  with  no  guide  but  an  old  Indian 
trail  so  blind  that  he  wandered  hours,  utterly  lost  in  the  woods,  before 
reaching  a  habitation.  The  result  is  manifest  to  any  one  wlio  will  com- 
pare the  beautiful  village,  with  its  university  crowded  with  students,  its 
churches,  its  schools,  its  manufactories,  its  houses,  its  railroad  of  to-day, 
with  tlie  unbroken  Avildcrness  of  twenty  years  ago. 

A  county  was  organized;  Mr.  Smith  was  elected  its  first  Judge, 
presiding,  at  twenty-three,  in  a  court  of  general  law  and  equity  juris- 
diction. He  was  then  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  State  Legislature, 
then  to  the  upper,  continuing  for  five  years  to  represent  his  county  and 
his  district.  He  at  once  took  a  leading  position  in  his  party,  and  in  the 
grand  councils  of  the  State.  He  was  cliairman  of  the  celebi'ated  com- 
mittee in  the  Legislature  of  1855,  which  was  cliarged  with  the  investigation 
of  the  many  allegations  of  corruption  and  fraud  made  against  the  chief 
executive  of  the  State — his  political  friend.  He  wrote  and  sul)mitted  the 
report  of  the  committee.  It  had  been  prepared  with  great  care  and 
ability,  and  no  state  paper  relating  to  its  domestic  aifairs  has  ever 
produced  the  effect  upon  the  public  mind  of  that  State  that  did  this 
report.  It  was  absolutely  decisive  of  the  questions  involved,  and  sealed 
the  political  fate  of  the  persons  chiefly  implicated. 

The  munificent  land  grants  made  by  the  national  Government  to  the 
State  of  Wisconsin  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  railroads,  came  l^efore  the 
Legislature  of  1856,  convened  in  special  session,  for  final  diipposition. 
Mr.  Smith  was  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  was  placed  upon  the  special 


PERRY   H.   SMITH.  345 

committee  of  that  body  to  wliuin  the  subject  was  eominittcd.  It  may  he 
cited  as  testimony  showing'  the  iiigh  })osition  he  had  already  attained  in 
the  estimation  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  all  opinions,  that,  though  party 
feeling  ran  very  high,  his  appointment  on  that  committee  was  applauded 
by  all  men,  and  by  the  newspai)er  party  organs  of  the  entire  section  of 
the  State  he  represented,  a  territory  now  comprising  nearly  the  entire 
Fifth  Congressional  District. 

The  land-grant  for  the  Northeastern  portion  of  the  State  was  kept 
entirely  distinct  from  the  great  scandal  growing  out  of  the  Xorthwestern 
grant,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  Mr.  Smith,  was  granted  to 
a  new  company  organized  by  the  Legislature,  with  authority  to  build  a 
railroad  from  the  city  of  Fond  du  Lac  to  the  Michigan  State  line. 

This  company  soon  became  consolidated  with  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul 
and  Fond  du  Lac-  Railroad  Company,  then  painfully  struggling  to  build 
a  road  from  Chiciigo  to  Fond  du  Lac,  AVisconsin,  with  the  hope  of 
ultimately  reaching  Lake  Superior  with  one  arm,  and  the  Mississippi 
River  with  the  other.  In  1857,  Mr.  Smith,  then  twenty-nine  years  old, 
became  the  Vice-President  of  this  company;  when  it  was,  soon  after, 
re-organized  with  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  he  took  the 
same  position  in  that.  He  removed  to  Chicago  in  1860,  in  possession  of 
an  ample  fortune,  the  result  of  fortunate  enterprises  in  western  Wisconsin, 
and  here  he  has  continued  to  reside.  He  has  been  the  grand  manager 
of  that  railroad  to  the  present  time,  under  the  presidency  of  William  B. 
Ogden,  Esq.,  of  Chicago.  AVhen  first  connected  with  it,  it  had  fifty  miles 
of  railroad  in  operation  from  Chicago  north,  and  thirty  miles  from  Fond 
du  Lac  south.  Its  first  year's  gross  earnings  were  a  little  over  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  He  has  seen  it  grow  from  that  day  of  humble 
beginnings,  until  it  now  owns  and  operates  over  twelve  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  of  railroad.  Its  gross  annual  earnings  have  reached  the  sum  of 
twelve  million  dollars.  It  earns  now  more  in  three  days,  than  then  in  a 
whole  year.  He  has  always  been  one  of  its  leading  spirits.  He  has,  more 
than  any  one  else,  shaped  the  legislation  that  has  fostered  and  protected  it. 
He  has  been  equally  potential  with  others  in  everything  that  has  affected 
its  general  policy,  and  the  relations  with  its  clients  and  the  business  world. 
He  has  never  been  stronger  than  now,  with  either  its  stockholders  or  the 
public  interested  in  it. 

He  has  not  limited  hi&  investments  to  railways.  He  has  largely  aided 
in  the  develonment  of  the  lead  and  iron  interests  of  the  West,  and  with 


346 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


large  pecuniary  results.  He  has  kept  true  to  the  instincts  of  his  nature, 
cultivated  by  the  education  and  associations  of  youth.  He  has  a  very 
large  and  very  finely  selected  library,  occupying  a  room  in  his  house  in 
Chicago,  of  very  rare  beauty.  He  has  given  a  large  sum  of  money  to  the 
construction  of  a  hall  for  the  library  of  Hamilton  College,  at  Clinton,  New 
York,  his  alma  mater,  now  in  the  course  of  construction,  and  which  will 
bear  his  name.  He  is  a  munificent  patron  of  the  fine  arts,  and  is  orna- 
menting his  home  with  paintings  and  statues  of  great  excellence.  j\Ir. 
Smith  is  in  Europe  while  these  sheets  are  passing  through  the  press,  on 
his  first  tour,  and  we  shall  here  close  this  imperfect  sketch,  leaving  to 
some  future  biographer  the  duty  of  completing  a  history  which  now 
promises  to  be  both  brilliant  and  useful 


ARTHUR  CHARLES  DUCAT. 


Amoxg  the  crowds  of  ardent,  enthusiastic  young  men  of  tlie  West, 
who  rushed  to  the  defence  of  the  flag  when  it  was  first  assailed  at  Fort 
Suniptcr,  the  military  career  of  few  was  more  brilliant  than  that  of 
Arthur  C.  Ducat.  Although  not  a  native  of  the  Republic,  her  own 
children  did  not  defend  her  with  more  zeal  and  gallantry  than  he.  A 
brief  sketch  of  his  life  cannot  fail  to  be  intercstiufr. 

He  was  born  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  on  the  24tli  of  February,  1830,  and 
was  the  youngest  son  of  the  late  M.  M.  Ducat,  Esq.,  of  Newlawn,  county 
of  Dublin.  After  receiving  a  very  thorough  scientific  education  in  his 
native  city,  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  to  follow  the  profession  of 
a  civil  engineer.  He  made  this  his  business  until  he  was  tendered  the 
position  of  Secretary  and  Chief  Surveyor  of  the  Board  of  Underwriters 
of  Chicago.  In  this  place  he  remained  until  the  attack  of  the  rebels  on 
Fort  Sumpter.  But  while  engaged  in  peaceful  pursuits.  Ducat  was  led, 
by  natural  taste,  to  study,  with  ardor  and  perseverance,  military  science 
and  the  art  of  war.  He  read  and  mastered  most  of  the  leading  works 
studied  in  the  military  schools,  so  that,  Avhen  the  war  began,  there  were 
few  young  men  in  the  West  better  prepared  than  he,  by  study,  for  the 
duties  of  a  soldier.  Immediately  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumpter,  he 
raised  and  offered,  first  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  then  to  the  national 
authorities,  a  corps  of  engineers,  sappers  and  miners,  of  three  Inuulred 
men.  Many  of  these  were  professional  engineers,  engineer  soldiers,  and 
sappers  and  miners,  who  had  seen  service  and  understood  the  details  of 
lield  and  permanent  fortifications  and  works  connected  therewith,  the 
rapid  construction  of  bridges,  roads,  etc.,  etc.  Strange  as  it  may  now 
appear,  the  tender  of  this  corps,  then  so  much  needed,  was  r(Jected. 


348  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

But  Ducat  was  resolved  to  enter  the  service,  and,  having  no  ofiicial  or 
personal  influence  through  mIucIi  to  obtain  a  commission,  he  determined 
to,  and  did,  enlist  as  a  private,  resolved  to  do  his  whole  duty  and  depend 
upon  his  commanders  and  his  merits  for  promotion.  He  did  this,  leaving 
a  lucrative  position,  and  a  lamdj  dependent  upon  him  for  support.  The 
regiment  in  which  he  enlisted  was  organized  at  Springfield,  Illinois, 
April,  1861,  and  mustered  into  service  as  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  was  among  the  first  thai  seized  the  important  strategic  point  of  Cairo, 
and  occupied  Bird's  Point.  The  first  service  the  regiment  rendered,  was 
in  supporting  the  heroic  General  Lyon  in  taking  possession  of  the  Arsenal 
at  St.  Louis,  by  occupying  the  Illinois  shore  of  the  river.  It  was  not 
long  before  Ducat's  military  acquirements  and  capacity  were  appreciated, 
and,  in  May,  lie  was  (commissioned  as  Second  Lieutenant  and  appointed 
Adjutant  of  the  regiment. 

On  the  re-enlistment  of  the  regiment  for  three  years,  he  was  appointed 
Captain  of  Company  "A."  Ihis  regiment  was  one  of  the  brigade  that 
first  occupied  Kentucky,  taking  possession  of  Paducah  in  August,  1861, 
where  he  was  appointed  Major  of  his  regiment.  He  was  with  his 
regiment  in  the  rear  of  Columbus,  at  the  time  of  Grant's  first  battle  at 
Belmont.  Next,  his  regiment  was  engaged  in  the  reconnoissance  of  Fort 
Henry,  and  in  the  two  brilliant  captures  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson 
he  was  actively  engaged.  He  was  mentioned  in  general  orders  for  gallant 
conduct  at  Fort  Donelson.  In  April,  1862,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  his  regiment.  He  and  his  regiment  were  never  idle;  they 
were  at  Clarksville  and  Nashville,  at  the  great  battle  of  Pittsburgh 
Landing,  and  the  advance  upon  Corinth. 

Ducat  had  now  been  raised  from  the  position  of  a  private  up  to  that 
of  the  second  officer  of  his  regiment.  He  was  early  distinguished  for  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  military  details,  for  his  great  organizing  powers, 
and  for  his  executive  ability,  but  especially  for  a  sleepless  vigilance  and 
activity,  that  mastered  every  detail  of  topography  and  movement  of 
hostile  armies.  These  qualities  led  to  his  appointment,  in  August,  1862, 
to  the  command  of  the  grand  guards,  pickets  and  outposts  for  the  army  at 
Corinth.  The  army  was  then  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  this  position  will  be  appreciated  by  all.  At  this  period  he  was 
attached  as  senior  officer  on  tlie  staff  of  General  Ord,  and  he  served  in 
this  capacity  at  the  battle  of  Iiika.  When  Major-General  Eosecrans 
assumed  command.  Ducat  was  ordered  to  his  staff,  in  command  of  grand 


AETHUR   CHARLES   DUCAT.  349 

Innards  and  outposts.  At  the  o-reat  l)attlo  ol"  ( 'nriiitli,  and  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy,  he  served  as  senior  Aid,  and  so  conducted  as  to  receive  the 
warmest  conjiratulations  of  his  comrades  and  superior  officers,  not  only 
for  bravery,  but  lor  eliieiency.  Prior  to  this  battle,  he  had  received  from 
General  Grant  the  very  flattering  apj)ointment  of  Inspector-General  of 
the  Second  Division  of  the  District  of  West  Tennessee,  but  he  was  not 
willinti:  to  leave  his  post,  as  the  battle  was  then  pending,  and  he  remained, 
voluntarily  exposed  to  its  dangers,  and  sharing  its  triunn)hs.  Subse- 
(juently,  he  was  directed  by  the  General  in  command  to  conduct  a  flag  of 
truce  to  the  enemy  at  Holly  Springs,  Mississip[)i,  a  distance  of  over  sixty 
miles,  and  through  a  country  infested  with  a  superior  force  of  guerillas. 
He  succeeded,  and  displayed  as  much  tact  and  discretion  in  negotiation  as 
in  his  duties  in  the  field. 

About  this  time  General  Rosecrans  was  ordered  to  take  command  of 
the  forces  known  as  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  then  under  command  of 
Major-General  Don  Carlos  Buell,  and  Colonel  Ducat  was  ordered  by  the 
General-in-Chief  to  accompany  General  Rosecrans,  and  was  named  as 
Chief  of  Staff;  Ducat  was  warmly  attached  to  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
with  which  he  had  seen  so  much  service,  and  the  first  knowledge  that  he 
had  of  any  intention  to  transfer  him  was  the  receipt  of  the  order.  In 
this  important  and  responsible  position,  he  rendered  most  efficient  service 
in  re-organizing  the  army,  and  in  its  forward  movements  from  Bowling 
Green  and  Glasgow  Junction  to  Nashville  and  Silver  Sj>rings,  Tennessee; 
raising  the  seige  of  Nashville,  and  opening  the  railway  from  that  city  to 
Louisville.  His  reputation  and  usefulness  as  a  staff"  officer  were  now 
established. 

On  the  ajipointraent  of  the  brave  and  lamented  Colonel  Garrashe  as 
Ciuef  of  Stafl^j  Colonel  Ducat  was  appointed  by  the  War  Department 
Inspector-General  of  the  army  of  General  Rosecrans,  then  known  as  the 
Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  and  after  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  and  the 
organization  of  the  Army  and  Department  of  the  Cund)crland,  Colonel 
Ducat  was  appointed  Inspector-General  of  that  army  and  department, 
in  addition  to  which  he  liad  charge  of  grand  guards,  pickets  and  outposts. 
When  it  is  recollected  that  Ducat  was  a  self-educated  soldier,  this  selection, 
from  among  the  many  able  and  exi)eri('nce(l  j)rofcssional  men,  is  a  distinc- 
tion indicating  a  degree  of  merit  rarely  cfiualcd.  He  organized  the 
Bureau  of  Inspector-General  on  a  system,  in  most  of  its  features,  novel 
and  new,  but  so  well  adapted   to  secure  efficiency  and  discipline  in  the 


350 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


armv  as  to  command  the  approval  of  all.  At  Urst,  his  sti-ictness,  rigid 
discipline,  and  exactness,  made  him  unpopular;  but  as  soon  as  the  results 
became  manifest  in  the  great  ejEficiency  of  the  troops,  he  became  personally, 
among  officers  and  men,  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the  army. 

Colonel  Ducat  served  in  all  the  actions  and  campaigns  of  this  army, 
including  the  battles  of  Tullahoma  and  the  Chicamauga,  until  General 
Rosecrans  Avas  relieved,  and  ]\Iajor-General  George  H.  Thomas  took  com- 
mand, and  then  he  was  ordered  to  the  staif  of  the  latter  as  Inspector- 
General,  in  which  capacity  he  served  until  1864.  It  was  during  this 
service  under  Rosecrans  that  he  made  a  most  daring,  successful  and  gallant 
reconnoissance  of  Tullahoma.  AVith  two  companies  of  cavalry  he  pene- 
trated seven  miles  in  advance  of  the  army,  and,  having  obtained  all  tlie 
needed  information,  returned  in  safety  to  his  chief.  He  received  special 
mention  in  the  report  of  the  General  commanding,  for  brave,  prompt  and 
energetic  conduct  at  the  battle  of  the  Chicamauga. 

Colonel  Ducat  was  attacked  w4th  camp  dysentery  at  Cairo,  in  1861, 
from  the  effects  of  which  he  was  always  a  sufferer  while  in  the  service. 
Nothing  but  a  physical  organization  of  wonderful  endurance  enabled  him 
to  keep  the  field  so  long  as  he  did.  In  February,  1864,  having  long 
struggled  against  disease,  and  being  admonished  by  the  surgeons  that  his 
longer  continuance  would  result  in  the  speedy  loss  of  his  life,  and  being 
incapacitated,  from  disease  and  debility,  from  performing  his  duty,  he 
reluctantly  left  the  field.  No  officer  ever  left  the  service  more  respected 
and  beloved  by  all,  than  he.  He  bore  with  him  the  strongest  testimonials 
to  his  military  merits  and  efficient  services,  from  Generals  Rosecrans, 
Thomas,  and  many  others.  A  letter  of  General  Grant,  now  lies  before 
the  writer,  from  which  is  copied  the  following  paragraph: 

"Nashville,   February  19,  1864. 
»  »  *  *  * 

"Lieutenant-Colonel  Ducat  leaves  the  service  in  consequence  of  ill-health  alone.  His 
services  have  been  valuable  and  fully  appreciated  by  all  those  under  whom  he  has 
served,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  rose  from  the  position  of  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant 
of  his  regiment  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  it,  and  finally  Inspector-General  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland." 


His  merits,  as  a  soldier,  were  thorough  knowledge  of  the  practical 
military  art,  unwearied  industry  and  hard  work,  constant  attention  to 
discipline  and  details,  great  organizing  power,  sleepless  vigilance,  quick 
and  rapid  execution,  personal  bravery.     As  has  already  been  stated,  his 


I 


ARTHUR   CHARLES   DUCAT.  351 

]>l]ysical  ciKluraiicc  was  WDiidcrrul.  As  an  illustration,  it  may  l)c  stated 
that  at  and  after  the  battle  of  Corinth,  he  was  in  the  saddle  f  »r  sixty  con- 
secutive hours,  with  the  exception  of  short  halts  when  employed  in  writing 
dispatches  and  in  changing  horses.  When  the  army  advanced  to  a  new 
j)osition.  Ducat  Avould,  by  personal  insi)ection,  rapidly  master  the  to])o- 
grapliy  for  miles  around.  He  was  a  boh  I  and  hard  rider,  and  even  a 
leader  of  the  adventurous  element  of  the  staff.  He  was  ever  ready  for  a 
new  expedition  of  adventure,  and  if  Ducat  wius  to  lead,  it  was  ever  hailed 
Mith  joy  by  the  cavalry  escort  and  officers.  Such  is  the  very  brief  and 
imperfect  record  of  Ducat  as  a  soldier.  Few,  if  any,  officers  of  his  i-ank 
contributed  so  much  to  the  brilliant  record  of  the  Western  armies.  He 
has  been  breveted  Brigadier-General  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services 
in  the  field,  and  none  among  all  those  gallant  soldiers  who  survive  is 
more  beloved  and  respected  by  those  who  know  him  mcII. 

Colonel  Ducat's  executive  ability  was  not  long  permitted  to  be  idle. 
As  soon  as  his  health  was  sufficiently  restored,  he  was  appointed  bv  the 
Home  Insurance  Company,  of  New  York,  to  supervise  the  business  of 
the  company  in  the  States  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  afterwards  as  their 
agent  in  Chicago.  He  is  now  the  agent  of  the  Home,  Manhattan, 
Howard,  and  Citizens'  Insurance  Companies,  of  New  York,  among  the 
oldest,  strongest,  and  most  honorable  companies  in  the  Union,  and  his 
courtesy  and  universal  popularity  have  given  him  a  rapid  success  rarclv 
equaled.  He  is  also  the  supervising  agent  of  the  Home  Insurance 
C^:)mpany,  of  New  York,  for  Indiana,  Wisconsin  and  IMinnesota.  In 
these  responsible  duties.  Colonel  Ducat  is  daily  illastrating  the  fact  that 
service  in  the  army,  instead,  of  demoralizing,  has  added  to  his  executive 
ability  and  usefulness.  He  has  constantly  declined  any  official  j>ublic 
position,  and  refused  to  be  a  candidate  for  any  office,  preferring  the  manlv 
independence  of  a  private  position. 

Colonel  Ducat  is  the  author  of  the  book  known  as  "  Ducat's  Practice 
of  Fire  Underwriting,"  the  best  standard  work  on  the  subject  of  which  it 
treats,  in  America,  and  adopted  as  the  instruction  book  for  agents  by  most 
of  the  large  insurance  comoanies. 


l^ 


HORACE   WHITE. 


Horace  White  was  boni  ia  Colebrock,  Coos  County,  New  Hamj)- 
shire,  August  10,  1834.  His  father  wiLs  a  physician  of  higli  repute  in  his 
profession,  and  possessed  unusual  force  of  character.  In  the  winter  of 
1836-7,  Dr.  White  undertook  a  journey  from  northern  New  Hampshire 
to  the  Territory  of  Wisctjnsin,  to  select  a  sile  for  a  company  or  colony  of 
New  England  settlers,  who  proposed,  will,  himself,  to  find  new  homei? 
in  the  distant  West.  Dr.  White,  with  his  norse  and  sleigh,  accomplished 
this  journey  of  some  three  thousand  miles,  going  and  returning,  in  the 
winter,  and  selected  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Beloit  as  tlie  future 
home  of  hiuLself  and  associates.  In  the  followino:  summer,  lie  l)rouuht 
his  family  to  Beloit,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  the  only  house  in  the 
place,  a  log  structure  which  might  have  been  taken  for  a  fort,  and  which 
was,  perhaps,  constructetl  with  a  view  to  possible  defensive  operations 
against  the  Indians. 

Dr.  White  died  in  the  year  1843,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-three, 
leaving  a  widow  and  four  infant  children,  of  'vhoni  Horace  was  the  eldest. 

In  184G,  Mrs.  White  was  again  niarrie  I,  her  second  husband  l)t'ing 
Deacon  Samuel  lliiiman,  of  Prairicville  (now  AWuikcslia),  \\'i>coii>iii. 
He  was  a  man  of  most  interesting  and  exemplary  character,  whose  alfee- 
tionate  care  and  judicious  guardianship  ct"  the  orphan  chiltlrcn  thus 
committed  to  his  charge  are  remembered  bv  them  with  iilial  gratitude. 
The  family  removed  to  Mr.  Hinman's  farm,  near  l*i-airii'villc,  shoi'tly  aficr 
the  marriage,  where  they  remained  three  years.  In  IHV,^,  .Mr.  Ilinman 
removed  to  Beloit  for  the  purpo.se  of  edu-ating  his  childrm,  and  Mr. 
White  entered  Beloit  College  the  .same  year,  from  which  he  graduated  in 
1853.     In  January,  1854,  being  then  but  liueteen  years  of  age,  he  came 


354  BIOGEAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

to  Chicago,  and  was  employed  first  as  "  local,"  and  afterwards  as  assistant 
editor,  of  the  "Evening  Journal."  The  daily  newsjjapers  of  Chicago  at 
that  time  were:  The  "Tribune,"  conducted  by  Thomas  A.  Stewart;  the 
"  Democrat,"  by  John  Went  worth ;  the  "  Democratic  Press,"  by  John  L. 
Scripps  and  William  Bross;  and  the  "Journal,"  by  R.  L.  &  C.  L.  Wilson. 
Receiving  the  appointment  of  Agent  of  the  Associated  Press,  he  left  the 
"Journal"  in  1855.  In  the  following  year,  he  was  chosen  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  National  Kansas  Committee,  whose  headquarters  had 
been  fixed  at  Chicago ;  and,  upon  the  disbandment  of  that  organization,  in 
1857,  he  entered  the  office  of  the  Chicago  "  Tribune,"  then  published  by 
the  firm  of  Ray,  Medill  &  Co.,  as  an  editorial  Avriter.  Since  that  date,  he 
has  been  constantly  connected  with  the  "  Tribune,"  although  three  years 
(from  1861  to  1864)  were  principally  passed  in  Washington  city,  he  acting 
as  correspondent  of  the  paper  at  the  National  Capital. 

In  1864,  Mr.  AVhite  purchased  an  interest  in  the  "  Tribune,"  and  in 
1865  became  its  editor-in-chief,  which  position  he  now  holds.  He  is 
known  as  a  tireless  worker,  a  ready  thinker,  a  terse,  powerful  writer,  a 
man  of  universal  information  and  extraordinary  endurance. 


ED3IUro   A?(DREWS. 


A  BOOK  giving  account  of  the  "  Leading  Men  of  Chicago,"  without 
sketching  tlie  lives  and  services  of  those  among  us  who  have  been  distin- 
guished as  scientific  men,  woukl  be  imperfect.  Prominent  among  this 
class  stands  Dr.  Edmund  Andrews. 

Since  the  death  of  the  lamented  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  whose  superior 
knowledge  and  skill,  especially  as  a  surgeon,  were  recognized  by  all 
his  cotemporaries,  Edmund  Andrews  has  been  acknowledged  as  the  head 
of  the  surgical  department  of  the  Western  medical  profession.  He  was 
born  in  Putney,  AVindham  County,  Vermont,  on  the  22d  day  of  April, 
1824.  His  father  was  a  clergyman,  and  had  charge  of  the  parish  at 
Putney  for  twenty  years.  One  characteristic  of  the  Doctor  is  a  passionate 
fondness  for  natural  scenery,  and  a  love  of  that  high  and  true  art  which 
faithfully  represents  it  upon  canvas.  This  can,  no  doubt,  be  traced  to 
early  impressions  made  upon  his  mind  by  the  beautiful  scenery  of  his 
childhood's  mountain  home.  A  love  of  nature,  and  natural  objects,  gave 
zest  to  his  pursuit  of  the  natural  sciences. 

While  Edmund  Andrews  was  yet  a  boy,  his  fiither  removed  to  Cen- 
tral New  York,  having  purchased  a  farm  in  that  attractive  region  of 
country,  and  there,  owing  to  the  failure  of  his  voice,  he  devoted  himself 
to  agriculture.  The  time  of  the  son  was  divided  between  labor  and 
study,  much  attention  being  given  to  botany  and  geology. 

When  seventeen  years  of  age,  the  young  man  removed  to  the  interior 
of  Michigan,  where  he  spent  three  years  in  backwoods  life,  and  improved 
the  opportunity  thus  aiVorded  him  in  ])reparing  himself  for  college.  He 
entered  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  during  his 
course,  maintained   a   good   standing   as  a  student.     He  waa,  in  some 


356  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

respects,  a  leader  in  his  class,  and  was  elected  President  of  the  College 
Literary  Society,  to  which  he  belonged.  In  the  languages  and  meta- 
physics, his  standing  was  merely  fair,  but  in  mathematics  and  the  sciences 
he  was  always  at  the  head  of  his  class.  During  one  of  the  vacations,  in 
company  with  a  class-mate,  he  took  a  voyage  in  a  boat  down  the  Grand 
River  for  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  the  peculiar  geological  formation  of  the  banks  of  that  stream. 
They  discovered  two  seams  of  coal,  besides  seeing  much  fine  scenery,  and 
securing  many  curious  specimens  of  ossifications  and  petrifactions.  They 
returned  to  college  much  better  geologists,  and  in  more  robust  health 
than  when  they  started.  In  1849,  he  received  the  degree  of  A.  B., 
after  completing  his  collegiate  studies.  He  shortly  afterwards  entered  the 
office  of  Professor  Z.  Pitclier,  at  Detroit,  at  tluit  time  the  most  eminent 
physician  and  surgeon  in  the  State.  He  could  not  have  commenced  his 
studies  under  more  favorable  auspices.  His  instructor  not  only  gave 
him  the  benefit  of  his  jiersonal  attention  and  professional  training,  but 
also  exerted  the  best  possible  moral  influence  over  him.  The  young 
student  acted  as  the  surgical  assistant  of  the  veteran  Professor,  both  in 
his  private  practice  and  in  a  hospital  of  which  lie  had  charge.  While 
thus  engaged  in  preparing  himself  for  his  profession,  he  did  not  neglect 
literary  or  intellcetual  i)ursuits  outside  of  his  text-books.  He  also 
became  actively  identified  with  the  Young  INIen's  Society  of  Detroit,  and 
participated  in  its  debates,  which,  in  those  days,  Mere  largely  attended 
by  fashionable  audiences,  and  conducted  by  the  best  orators  of  the  city. 
On  one  of  these  occasions,  our  young  disciple  of  Esculapius  won  consider- 
able credit  by  a  victorious  discussion  with  the  Hon.  Z.  Chandler,  now  a 
representative  of  Michigan  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

In  1850,  he  commenced  attending  lectures  in  the  Medical  Dejiartment 
of  the  University  of  Michigan.  At  the  end  of  his  first  year,  he  so  far 
established  himself  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  authorities  in 
charge  there,  that,  although  he  had  not  yet  graduated  in  medicine,  he 
was  appointed  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  and  given  entire  control  of  the 
instructions  of  the  dissecting  room.  In  the  year  following,  he  finished 
his  medical  course,  and  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  He  continued  to 
hold  the  office  named,  and  added  to  its  usual  duties  lectures  to  the 
students  on  Comparative  Anatomy. 

The  public  prejudice  against  dissections  was  at  that  time  so  strong 
that  the  supply  of  subjects  for  the  dissecting-room  was  a  very  difficult 


I 


KDMUXD    ANDREWS.  357 

and  dangerous  task.  The  general  direction  and  responsibility  of  this 
business  rested  upon  him.  Pie  overcame  these  dilliculties — first,  by 
sternly  prohibiting  the  })r()('uring  of"  subjects  by  tlie  irresponsible  "  man- 
agement" of  students,  and  by  establishing  an  inflexible  rule  among  the 
men  employed  in  "resurrecting"  to  the  eflect  that  they  were  to  bring 
the  bodies  of  none  but  paupers,  or  of  such  persons  as  had  no  friends  to 
care  for  them.  He  found  no  difficulty  in  enforcing  this  rule,  the  men 
readily  appreciating  the  fact  that  it  was  the  only  safe  plan.  He  entirely 
quieted  the  uneasiness  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  in  which  the  Uni- 
versity is  located,  by  prohibiting  the  "resurrection"  of  bodies  from  the 
local  cemeteries — even  those  of  friendless  paupers.  In  this  way,  the 
Doctor,  in  two  or  three  years,  completely  allayed  public  apprehension, 
and  reduced  the  supply  of  the  dissecting-room  to  a  regular  and  well- 
organized  system. 

Three  years  after  graduating  as  A.  B.,  he  received  the  degree  of 
A.  M.,  and,  in  the  year  1854,  received  the  appointment  of  Professor  of 
Comparative  Anatomy  in  the  University,  the  duties  of  which  position 
he  performed  in  addition  to  those  of  Demonstrator. 

In  the  year  1853,  Dr.  Andrews  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  Taylor, 
of  Detroit,  daughter  of  a  merchant  in  that  city.  In  the  same  year,  he 
founded  the  INlichigan  State  Medical  Society,  and  in  connection  with  it 
commenced  the  publication  of  a  new  medical  periodical,  entitled  the 
"  Peninsular  Journal  of  Medicine  and  the  Collateral  Sciences."  He 
maintained  the  vigor,  both  of  the  Society  and  "Journal,"  until  he  left  the 
State,  when  he  transmitted  the  care  of  them  to  others.  Both  subsequently 
expired. 

In  the  year  1855,  Dr.  Andrews  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Demon- 
strator of  Anatomy  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Cliicago.  This  position  he 
accepted.  After  one  year's  service,  he  tendered  his  resignation  and  devoted 
himself  exclusively  to  practice,  giving  his  attention  especially  to  surgery. 
For  this  branch  of  his  profession  he  was  specially  adapted,  owing  to  his 
mechanical  and  scientific  turn  of  mind.  His  long  practice  in  dissections 
was  also  favorable  to  his  success. 

Not  many  months  after  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  and  while  niiK-h  of 
his  time  was  unoccupied  by  his  professional  duties,  in  consequence  of 
being  a  new-comer,  he  joined  his  efforts  with  tliose  of  that  devoted  and 
successful  young  naturalist,  Ilobert  Kennicott,  in  founding  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Sciences.     Mr.  Kennicott  was  soon  afterwards  called  away 


358  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

to  his  first  Arctic  expedition,  and  Dr.  Andrews,  by  his  personal  iufiuence 
and  exertions,  kept  the  institution  alive,  acting  as  curator  and  general 
manager,  and  devoting  his  leisure  hours  to  the  care  and  interests  of  the 
museum.  After  Mr.  Kennicott's  return,  he  exerted  himself  to  inspire 
scientific  enthusiasm,  and,  with  others,  succeeded  in  raising  a  fund  of 
over  $60,000  to  place  the  Academy  of  Sciences  on  a  permanent  basis. 
It  was  then  fully  re-organized,  and  Dr.  Andrews  was  unanimously  elected 
its  first  President  under  the  new  regime. 

Most  of  his  time  and  attention,  however,  were  given  to  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  Being  frequently  called  upon  for  charity  services,  he 
united  with  Dr.  AYardner  in  establishing  a  Charity  Dispensary,  which 
soon  became  a  great  public  blessing.  They^so  established  a  private 
dissecting-room,  in  which  Dr.  Andrews  gave  lectures  to  a  class  of  phy- 
sicians and  artists,  the  latter  wishing  to  study  anatomy  in  order  to 
perfect  their  knowledge  of  the  human  form  for  artistic  purposes. 

In  1859,  Dr.  Andrews  joined  with  a  number  of  the  more  eminent 
medical  men  of  this  city  in  founding  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  and 
received  in  it  the  appointment  of  Professor  of  Surgery,  which  he  has 
held  ever  since.  This  institution  was  soon  a  success,  and  has  gone  on 
flourishing,  until  now  it  is  one  of  the  best  colleges  of  the  country.  It 
has  a  good  building,  library,  museum,  and  laboratory,  and  is  on  a 
solid  financial  basis.  At  about  the  same  time  he  also  received  the 
appointment  of  Surgeon  of  Mercy  Hospital,  where  he  performed  vast 
numbers  of  surgical  operations,  and  gave  from  one  to  three  clinical 
lectures  per  week  on  surgery. 

Dr.  Andrews  has  made  several  important  improvements  in  surgical 
practice.  He  introduced  a  new  operation,  and  practiced  it  successfully, 
for  correcting  certain  cases  of  strabismus  (squint-eyes),  heretofore  con- 
sidered incurable.  He  devised  and  established  a  new"  plastic  operation 
for  the  restoration  of  lost  noses,  lips,  and  eyelids,  which,  in  proper  cases, 
excelled  any  previous  method.  He  also  invented  a  new  modification  of 
a  splint  for  hip  disease,  and  was,  we  believe,  the  first  in  this  city,  though 
not  the  first  in  the  United  States,  to  practice  the  excision  of  bones  of  the 
hip-joint  in  certain  cases  where  the  life  of  the  patient  could  not  be  other- 
wise saved.  He  took  the  lead  here  in  the  cure  of  deformities,  and 
published  numerous  articles  to  arouse  the  attention  of  medical  men  to 
this  neglected  branch  of  surgery.  He  invented  and  applied  various 
kinds  of  apparatus  for  the  correction  of  curvatures  of  the  spine,  as  well 


I 


EDMUND   ANDREWS.  359 

as  others  for  the  straightening  of  crooked  and  stiffened  joints.  He  also 
invented  a  new  splint  for  diseased  knee-joints. 

When  the  Sonthern  rebellion  broke  out,  he  entered  the  military 
service.  He  was  first  put  on  duty  as  Post  Surgeon  at  Camp  Douglas, 
in  this  city,  where  he  had  charge  of  the  hospitals  for  a  garrison  of  eight 
thousand  troops.  He  was  subsequently  ordered  to  the  field  to  serve  as 
Surgeon  of  the  1st  Regiment  of  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  and  joined  the 
army  under  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman.  Having  already  had  a  very 
full  hospital  experience,  he  requested  of  General  Grant's  Chief-of-Staif 
that  he  might  not  be  oi-d^ed  to  any  post  or  hospital,  but  be  allowed  to 
remain  witii  the^army,  as  he  wis^hed  to  perfect  himself  in  field  and  battle 
surgery,  which  request  was  granted.  He  introduced  into  Gen.  Sherman's 
command  the  practice  of  saving  many  wounded  arms  by  excising  bones 
in  shattered  elbows  and  shoulders,  instead  of  amputating  the  limb.  The 
operation  of  excision  was  not  new  to  surgery,  but  being  considered  diffi- 
cult, Gen.  Sherman's  surgeons  had  not  ventured  to  perform  it  until  Dr. 
Andrews  showed  them  how  to  do  it.  After  this  the  operation  was  gener- 
ally adopted,  and  many  arms  were  saved  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  amputated. 

The  Government  system  of  recording  the  surgery  of  the  army  was 
at  that  time  wretchedly  inefficient,  so  that  the  vast  experience  of  the 
largest  battles  was  lost,  no  perfect  record  being  kept  of  the  wounds,  oper- 
ations, or  results.  Observing  this,  Dr.  Andrews  determined  to  make 
an  effort  to  obtain  a  more  complete  registry  in  the  future.  By  agreement 
with  other  surgeons,  he  carried  out  his  project,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Chickasaw  Bayou,  he  thus  obtained  a  complete  record  of  all  wounds, 
operations,  and  the  condition  of  every  patient  for  two  or  three  weeks 
subsequently,  while  the  Government  merely  got  a  list  of  the  wounded 
and  killed.  He  published  this  register,  and  for  it  received  the  thanks 
of  the  Surgeon  General,  who  afterwards  derived  from  it  the  only  valuable 
record  which  he  could  obtain  of  the  surgery  of  that  action.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  the  system  of  Government  records  was  soon  afterwards 
greatly  improved. 

Gen.  Sherman  repeatedly  requested  Dr.  Andrews  to  accept  a  promotion 
as  Brigade  Surgeon,  M'ith  the  view  u'i  taking  position  on  some  Geni-ral's 
staff,  but  he  steadily  refused,  being  aware  that  such  apjxtiiit incuts  tend  to 
withdraw  one  from  direct  surgical  duties  to  general  niaiiagenicnt  and 
office  work. 


360  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

At  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Gen.  M.  L.  Smith  had  a  bullet 
lodged  in  the  interior  of  the  bones  of  his  hips,  in  close  proximity  to  one 
of  the  largest  arteries  of  the  body,  and  ^yhere  it  could  not  be  reached  in 
the  ordinary  manner.  The  surgeons  of  the  command  were  appalled  by 
the  difficulties  and  danger  of  the  case,  but  at  the  General's  request  Dr. 
Andrews  undertook  its  removal.  He  gave  him  chloroform,  and  cut  in 
along  the  track  of  the  ball  until  he  reached  the  point  where  it  had  passed 
through  the  broad  bone  of  the  hip  (ilium)  into  the  interior  of  the  body, 
close  to  the  large  artery.  He  at  once  cut  the  hole  in  the  bone  to  a  lai'ger 
size,  so  that  he  could  pass  in  his  finger  and  an  instrument  by  the  side  of 
it.  He  then  discovered  the  bullet  within,  firmly  wedged  into  another 
bone.  Placing  his  finger  between  the  bullet  and  the  artery,  so  as  to 
protect  the  latter,  he  introduced  a  steel  instrument,  and  prying  the  ball 
loose  from  its  bed,  easily  removed  it,  and  the  patient's  lite  was  saved. 
This  is  but  one  of  many  instances  of  the  Doctor's  superior  surgical  skill. 

After  being  in  the  army  about  a  year,  the  Professors  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  College  began  to  feel  the  necessity  of  his  return  to  his  lectures  in 
that  institution,  and  petitioned  the  Government  to  allow  him  to  resign. 
He  accordingly  presented  his  resignation,  obtained  its  acceptance,  and 
returned  to  his  college  duties  and  private  practice,  which  has  rapidly 
increased  ever  since.  The  summer  of  1867  he  spent  in  the  large  hospitals 
of  Paris  and  London. 

In  concluding  this  brief  sketch,  we  M'ould  remark  that  Dr.  Andrews 
not  only  stands  high  in  his  profession,  but  as  a  citizen  is  universally 
admired  for  his  generous  impulses,   honorable  traits   of  character,  and  | 

manliness  of  disposition.     Xo  one  has  a  more  genuine  claim  to  respect  for  \ 

what    he   has   done  and   is    still   doing  for  the  prosperity   of  our  city,  j 

especially  in  science  and  the  healmg  art.  J 


v^ 


WILLIAM  HENRY  RYDER. 


PROMrsTENT  amoDg  the  clergymen  of  Chicago  is  William  Henry 
Ryder,  D.  D.,  pa.stor  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  on  Wabash  avenue. 
Dr.  Ryder  was  born  in  Provincetown,  Massachusetts,  July  13,  1822.  He 
received  his  education  iu  his  native  town,  in  Pembroke,  New  Hampshire, 
and  in  Clinton,  New  York,  where  he  studied  Greek  and  Hebrew  with  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Clowes.  He  became  early  imbued  with  the  great  central 
truth  of  the  denomination  of  which  he  is  an  able  exponent — that  not  a 
soul  of  the  vast  universe  can  ever  pass  beyond  the  reach  of  God's  encom- 
passing and  pardoning  love.  Believing  this  with  the  whole  strength  of 
his  nature,  there  was  for  him  no  alternative  but  to  preach  it.  Closing  his 
ears  to  the  seductive  voice  of  literary  life,  and  turning  his  back  on 
mercantile  and  political  pursuits,  he  commenced,  at  nineteen  years  of  age, 
the  proclamation  of  Universalism. 

The  fervor,  earnestness  and  unction  of  his  early  ministry  are  yet 
remembered  in  Southern  New  Hampsliire,  where  the  first  few  years  of  his 
clerical  life  were  spent,  and  where  he  is  most  affectionately  spoken  of.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  became  pastor  of  the  First  Universalist  Church, 
in  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  and,  during  the  same  year,  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Caroline  F.  Adams,  of  Boston — the  beloved  and 
devoted  wife,  who  has  supplemented  him  in  all  his  labors,  and  of  whose 
efficient  assistance  he  is  proud  to  make  grateful  mention.  He  was  after- 
wards pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  Nashua,  New  Ham]>sliiro. 
In  both  these  cities  eminent  success  attended  liis  labors,  and  his  youlhTul 
enthusiasm,  earnestness  and  devotedness  won  him  a  favorable  hearing, 
even  among  those  who  had  no  sympathy  with  his  theology. 

But  he  soon  realized  the  disadvantages  of  his  too  hasty  preparation 


362  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

for  his  profession.  It  had  not  been  sufficiently  thorough  or  extensive, 
and  his  busy  pastoral  life  left  him  no  leisure  to  remedy  these  defects.  As 
he  was  in  spirit  wholly  consecrated  to  his  life-work,  he  resolved  to  acquire 
a  more  extensive  scholarship — to  place  himself  in  more  robust  mental 
training.  He  resigned  his  pastorate,  and  went  to  Europe,  where  he  spent 
nearly  two  years  in  study  and  travel.  He  applied  himself  closely  to  the 
German  language,  studying  for  eight  months  in  Berlin,  and  attending  the 
lectures  of  the  great  Neander  and  others.  His  tour  was  continued  through 
Greece,  Syria  and  the  Holy  Land,  where  he  made  profitable  visits  to 
Athens,  Damascus,  Cairo  and  Jerusalem.  It  was  well-spent  time,  and 
the  young  clergyman,  intent  only  on  the  high  aims  of  the  sacred  office  to 
which  he  had  wedded  himself  in  solemn  covenant,  returned  to  his  work 
enlarged,  developed,  and  well  furnished  for  his  duties. 

On  his  return,  several  inviting  fields  of  labor  were  opened  to  him, 
from  among  Avhich  he  selected  the  pastorate  of  the  Universalist  Society  in 
Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  where  his  predecessor  for  sixteen  years  had  been 
one  of  the  most  eminent  men  of"  New  England — Rev.  H.  Ballon,  2d, 
late  President  of  Tuft's  College.  Here  he  remained  for  ten  years, 
laboring  assiduously  in  his  parish,  which  repaid  his  toil  with  thoughtful 
affection  and  abundant  growth.  The  various  moral  enterprises  that 
sprang  up  around  him  claimed  his  attention,  and  the  cause  of  education, 
temperance,  anti-slavery,  and  the  charities  of  the  day,  all  received  his 
prompt  and  unstinted  aid.  It  was  not  an  easy  thing  for  him  to  sunder 
the  ties  that  had  been  growing  between  him  and  the  people  of  Roxbury 
for  ten  years.  But  the  First  Universalist  Society  of  Chicago  fixed 
covetous  eyes  on  him,  and  would  not  be  refused.  It  had  need  of  his 
matured  powers,  his  executive  talent,  his  large  experience,  his  practical 
piety,  his  earnest  spirit,  and  it  would  listen  to  no  denial. 

In  January,  1860,  Dr.  Ryder  took  charge  of  his  present  })arish  in  this 
city.  From  the  moment  that  he  became  pastor  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  it 
began  to  thrive.  He  found  it  heavily  encumbered  with  debt,  and 
despondent;  this  incubus  was  soon  lifted.  There  was  inefficient  organ- 
ization, and  serious  divisions;  these  were  healed,  and  the  scattered  forces 
were  drawn  into  compactness  and  set  to  work.  There  was  thorough 
re-organization  in  every  department.  The  new  pastor  was  not  given  to 
spasmodic  effort,  but  day  by  day,  and  year  by  year,  he  worked  on, 
repairing  a  weak  place  here,  adding  a  new  element  of  strength  there, 
remedying  past  defects,  and  grafting  on   new  excellencies,  until  to-day 


WILLIAM   HENRY   RYDER.  363 

St.  Paul's  Church  stands  one  of  the  strongest,  wealthiest  and  best  religious 
organizations  of  the  Northwest.  The  work  has  been  done  so  quietly  that 
the  community  has  not  been  aware  of  its  magnitude.  During  the  seven 
years  of  Dr.  Ryder's  pastorate,  the  parish  has  contributed  about  $90,000 
to  the  work  of  the  denomination.  This  is  exclusive  of  the  large  and 
uncounted  sums  which  it  has  given  to  the  cliaritable,  relbrmatory  and 
patriotic  work  of  the  city  and  country.  It  includes  among  its  members 
some  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  public  spirited  citizens  of  Chicago,  who 
have  helped  towards  the  development  of  the  marvelous  city,  and  are 
deeply  concerned  in  its  future  growth. 

Nor  have  Dr.  Ryder's  labors  been  confined  to  his  own  parish  and 
denomination.  He  is  identified  \vith  the  cause  of  popular  education, 
being  a  member  of  tlie  Chicago  Board  of  Education,  which  has  tlie 
interests  of  the  public  schools  in  charge.  He  holds  official  relations  with 
nearly  every  onei  of  the  city  charities,  and  makes  them  no  sinecure,  for  he 
carries  into  them  the  active,  earnest  and  helpful  spirit  which  is  a  part  of 
the  man.  He  cannot  be  an  idle  looker-on  in  any  organization  with  which 
he  is  connected.  Whatever  work  comes  up  to  be  done  for  the  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  the  poor,  the  suffering,  the  ignorant,  the  degraded, 
may  count  on  more  than  sympathy  from  Dr.  Ryder.  His  riglit  hand  is 
immediately  given  in  fellowsliip,  and  his  shoulder  put  to  the  wheel  for 
work.  During  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  Dr.  Ryder  stood  firmly  for  the 
Union,  and  with  his  ready  pen  and  eloquent  voice  did  good  service  to  the 
oft-times  sorely-tried  cause.  Twice  he  went  to  the  front  to  render  sei-\'ice 
to  oiu-  "brave  boys  in  blue,"  and  he  was  sent  to  Richmond  immediately 
after  the  evacuation,  in  furtherance  of  the  plans  of  the  Chicago  Sanitary 
Fair.  It  was  then  that  he  discovered  the  famous  letter  used  by  the 
Government  in  the  assassination  trial. 

Dr.  Ryder's  labors  have  not  been  confined  to  the  city.  His  influence 
has  radiated  throughout  the  Northwest,  in  every  phase  of  effort  put  forth 
by  liis  denomination.  During  1865-6,  he  largely  assisted  in  raising  an 
endowment  fund  of  $100,000  for  Lombard  University,  a  flourishing 
denominational  college,  located  at  Galesburg,  Illinois.  Oi'  this  sum,  his 
own  parish  contributed  $25,000.  His  judicious  lal)ors  have  contributed 
towards  the  erection  of  many  churches  and  the  estai)lishment  of  several 
societies.  His  life  has  been  one  of  such  incessant  activity  as  to  leave  him 
little  leisure  for  authorship.  He  has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  the 
columns  of  the  "Universalist  Quarterly,"  a  scholarly,  theological  review 


364  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

of  the  denommatlon ;  and  he  has  published  several  pamphlets,  and  con- 
tributed otherwise  largely  to  the  literature  of  his  church.  Had  he  done 
less,  he  would  have  A^Titten  more.  He  has  an  excellent  and  well-used 
library  of  two  thousand  volumes,  many  of  which  are  rare  books. 
Harvard  University  has  honored  him  with  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts, 
and,  in  1863,  Lombard  University  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity. 

In  person,  Dr.  Ryder  is  of  medium  height,  but  slight  in  figure,  and, 
physically,  frail-looking.  He  has  a  most  expressive  face,  with  dark  eyes, 
abundant  dark  hair  and  beard,  which  time  has  hardly  yet  begun  to  thread 
with  silver.  Thoughtful  and  even  serious  in  repose,  in  conversation  his 
face  lights  up  with  interest  and  animation,  and  when  a  smile  ripples  over 
it,  or  it  takes  on  its  peculiar  look  of  kindliness,  it  is  one  of  great  attrac- 
tiveness. His  manner  is  urbane,  but  dignified,  and  never,  in  any  society, 
nor  in  the  most  unguarded  moment,  docs  he  sink  his  clerical  character. 
He  would  never  be  mistaken  for  otiier  than  a  minister.  His  ])erceptions 
are  quick,  his  knowledge  of  human  nature  intuitive,  and  in  the  first 
moment  or  two  of  intercourse,  he  has  taken  the  measure  of  the  man  with 
whom  he  is  dealing  or  talking,  and  rarely  has  tt)  correct  his  first  estimate. 
His  truthfulness  is  of  the  most  absolute  kind.  He  abhors  trickery,  and 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  shams.  His  word  is  accepted,  and  implicitly 
relied  on  by  all  Avho  know  him.  His  appearance  invites  trust,  and  he  is 
never  known  to  betray  confidence.  Friends  gather  about  him  from  all 
classes  and  circles,  and  are  thenceforward  fastened  to  him  as  with  hooks 
of  steel. 

The  character  of  Dr.  Ryder's  mind  is  strictly  logical  and  analytical. 
His  appeals  are  first  to  the  intellect — afterwards,  to  the  heart.  His 
rhetoric  is  chaste  and  courtly — his  oratorical  manner  is  intensely  fervid, 
earnest  and  serious.  The  attention  of  his  audiences  is  compelled  from 
first  to  last.  One  feels,  while  listening  to  him,  that  he  is  a  minister  from 
the  necessity  of  his  nature — that  his  devotion  to  truth,  as  he  understands 
it,  was  so  supreme  as  to  leave  him  no  other  election  than  to  give  his  liie 
to  its  service.  While  clinging  tenaciously  to  his  own  convictions,  lie  is 
full  of  tolerance  towards  those  who  diifer  with  him,  and  never  vilifies 
Christians  of  another  name  than  his  own.  He  possesses  that  quality  of 
executive  ability  which  constitutes  him  a  leader,  and  which  gives  him  the 
l)()wer  to  plan  so  wisely,  and  adapt  means  to  ends  so  judiciously,  as  to 
ai-i'i)inplish  any  work  he  has  in  hand.     Possessing  the  rare  gift  of  seeing 


WILLIAM    HENRY    RYDEU.  365 

what  points  are  to  be  altaiiicd  in  the  aclii('V('nu'nt  ol'  any  work,  li<>  knows 
how  to  push  forward  to  these,  and  cannot  he  (h-awn  into  side  issues,  how- 
ever plausible  or  enticini;.  This  recognized  exeentive  talent,  and  his 
eminent  spirit  of  helpfulness,  are  continually  t('ni})tint;;  him  to  over-work, 
so  that  a  yearly  pilgrimage  to  the  mountains  and  sea-side  are  absolute 
necessities  of  recuperation  to  him.  Having  as  yet  attained  only  the 
meridian  of  life,  there  is  before  him  a  bright  and  ivseful  future,  if  he  but 
husband  his  strength  prudently,  and  learn  the  practical  meaning  of  the 
maxim,  "make  haste,  slowly" — a  wise  direction,  which  is  too  much 
ignored  in  every  department  of  Western  life. 


FRANCIS  A.  HOFFMANN. 


Not  a  small  proportion  of  the  population  of  Chicago  is  of  German 
nativity  or  descent,  and  not  a  few  among  our  citizens  of  culture,  energy 
and  influence  are  representatives  of  the  Teutonic  nationalitv.  AVe  find 
tlicm  in  all  the  professions  and  in  every  department  of  trade  and  activity. 
Our  most  polished  scholars  are  Germans,  as  are  some  of  our  leading 
merchants,  bankers  and  politicians.  Among  the  most  prominent  and 
highly  respected  of  this  class  is  he  ^vhose  name  is  already  mentioned. 

Feaxcis  a.  Hoffmann  was  born  at  Herford,  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Prussia,  in  the  year  1822.  His  father  was  a  bookseller,  and  the  son  was 
educated  at  the  Frederick  "William  Gymnasium,  in  his  native  town.  He 
left  Prussia  for  America  in  1839,  being  then  but  seventeen  years  of  age. 
He  reached  Xew  York  penniless,  but  having  borrowed  eight  dollars  of  a 
friend  in  that  city,  he  started  for  Chicago,  which  was  then  beginning  to  be 
a  considerable  village.  After  a  long  and  tedious  journey  in  freight-boats 
on  the  Hudson  River  and  Erie  Canal,  and  a  small  schooner  on  the  Lakes, 
he  arrived  here  in  September  of  that  year.  Moneyless,  friendless, 
and  unable  to  speak  the  English  language,  he  found  a  poor  prospect  for 
"getting  a  start  in  the  world."  Seeking  in  vain  to  find  better  employ- 
ment, he  finally  determined,  rather  than  do  nothing,  to  accept  the  position 
of  bootblack  at  the  Lake  House,  which  at  that  time  was  the  first-class 
hotel  of  Ciiicago.  A  month  subsequently  he  accepted  an  ofier  to  teach  a 
small  German  school  at  what  was  then  called  Dunkley's  Grove,  now  the 
town  of  Addison,  Du  Page  County,  at  the  extraordinary  salary  of  forty 
dollars  a  year,  with  the  privilege  of  "boarding  round"  among  the  parents 
of  his  pupils.  His  next  step  was  into  the  pulpit,  being  ordained  as  a 
minister  by  the  Lutheran  Synod  of  Michigan;  and  he  labored  faithfully 


368  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHED. 

and  ^vith  eifect  in  that  capacity  for  a  term  of  ten  years,  the  district  of  his 
services  embracing  Chicago  and  other  parts  of  Cook  County,  as  "svell  as 
the  counties  of  Du  Page  and  Will,  in  this  State,  and  the  county  of  Lake, 
in  Indiana. 

In  1844,  he  Avas  married  to  Miss  Cynthia  Gilbert,  an  American  lady, 
who  has  proved  to  be  a  most  efficient  "helpmeet" — a  noble  wife  and  a 
devoted  and  exemplary  mother.  From  a  family  of  seven  children  four 
remain — all  boys — the  oldest  beiug  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  the 
youngest  five. 

While  engaged  in  his  work  as  a  minister,  he  took  quite  an  active 
interest  in  all  public  affairs,  and  was  elected  to  represent  Du  Page  County 
in  the  famous  River  and  Harbor  Convention  which  was  held  in  Chicago 
in  1847.  On  account  of  failing  health,  he  resigned  his  ministerial  charge 
and  removed  to  Chicago  in  1852,  entering  the  law  office  of  Calvin 
DeWolf,  Esq.,  as  a  legal  student,  and  soon  became  active  and  influential 
in  the  local  politics  of  the  city.  In  1853,  he  was  elected  Alderman  for 
what  was  then  the  Eighth  Ward.  After  having  become  sufficiently  versed 
in  the  law,  by  arduous  study,  to  answer  a  purpose  he  had  in  view,  he 
established  himself  in  the  real  estate  business,  in  which  he  was  very 
successful.  This  he  continued  until  1854,  when  he  opened  a  banking 
house,  in  which  he  was  quite  prosperous  until  1861,  when  the  firm  of 
Hoffmann  &  Gelpcke — of  Avhich  he  was  a  member — like  many  other 
banking  institutions  of  this  city,  was  forced  to  make  an  assignment  in 
consequence  of  the  financial  panic  Avhich  resulted  from  the  breaking  out 
of  the  rebellion  and  downfall  of  what  was  known  as  the  "stumptail" 
State  currency.  This  was  a  serious  blow,  but  it  crippled  him  only 
temporarily.  A  spirit  like  his,  imbued  with  a  philosophy  that  can  endure 
misfortune,  and  that  degree  of  energy  Avhich  overcomes  obstacles,  may  be 
depressed  by  unfortunate  events,  but  cannot  be  hopelessly  crushed. 
Devoting  his  time  to  public  affairs  and  in  endeavoring  to  redeem  his 
financial  losses,  and  satisfy  his  creditors,  his  next  few  years  were  years  of 
great  activit}^  and  effort;  and  at  the  present  time  we  find  him  engaged  in 
the  business  of  fire  insurance  and  foreign  exchange,  in  which,  judging 
from  his  ever-smiling  countenance  and  cheerful  temper,  he  is  evidently 
successful. 

Thus  much  as  to  the  business  career  of  Mr.  Hoffmann.  As  a  public 
man,  he  has  ranked  with  the  most  prominent  and  popular  in  the  State. 
He  was  among  the  first  of  the  leading  Germans  of  the  Northwest  to 


FRANCIS   A.   HOFFMANN.  369 

espouse  and  advocate  the  aiiti-slaveiy  eause.  ^\'llile  engaged  in  preaching, 
lie  wrote  editorials  for  the  first  German  paper  (a  ^\•eekly)  that  was 
published  in  Chicago,  and  frequently  wrote  for  the  "Chicago  Democrat," 
elueflv,  however,  translations  from  the  German.  As  a  writer  and  speaker, 
ho  is  remarkably  successful  in  the  use  of  our  language  for  one  wlio, 
twenty  years  ago,  could  scarcely  speak  or  write  an  English  sentence.  But, 
a  man  of  education,  combining  in  himself  a  strong  will,  a  clear  mind  and 
the  requisite  power  of  persistence,  can  accoraplisli  wonderful  tasks,  and 
]Mr.  Hoffmann  is  now  almost  as  ready  an  English  as  a  German  scholar. 

During  the  exciting  tri-angular  Presidential  contest  of  1848,  Mr. 
Hoffmann  was  an  earnest  and  active  member  of  the  Free-Soil  party,  and 
supported  Martin  Van  Buren  for  the  Presidency.  Subsequently,  during 
the  stii-ring  Nebraska-Kansas  excitement,  he  took  a  vigorous  part  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  attempt  to  fasten  slavery  upon  those  Territories,  and  probably 
did  more  than  any  other  man  in  the  country  to  ai'ousc  and  make  practi- 
cally available,  as  an  element  in  our  politics,  the  strong  freedom-loving 
nature  of  the  German  citizens  of  the  West,  a  large  majority  of  whom 
have  proved  themselves  so  true  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  Republicanism 
and  the  Union,  throughout  the  eventful  struggle  of  the  past  ten  years,  at 
the  ballot-box  and  in  the  field. 

In  1856,  the  Anti-Slavery  Convention  of  Cook  County  unanimously 
recommended  the  name  of  jNIr.  Hoifmann  to  the  consideration  of  the 
State  as  the  candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  State  Convention, 
meeting  at  Bloomington,  nominated  the  lamented  Bissell  for  Governor, 
and  ]Mr.  Hotfmann  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  by  acclamation.  This 
was  done  notwithstanding  ^Ir.  Hoffmann's,  expressed  request  to  the 
contrary.  It  was  subsequently  ascertained,  however,  that  he  was 
disqualified,  not  having  been  fourteen  years  a  citizen,  as  required  by 
the  Constitution,  and  he  therefore  insisted  that  his  name  be  taken  off'  the 
ticket,  which  was  finally  done.  During  that  Presidential  and  Guberna- 
torial campaign.  General  Fremont  being  then  the  candidate  for  President, 
Mr.  Hoffmann  canvassed  all  parts  of  the  State,  adilressing  meetings  in 
the  German  and  Englisii  languages  almost  daily. 

Four  years  afterwards,  the  Republican  State  Convention,  at  Decatur, 
again  nominated  him  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  by  acclamation,  on  the 
ticket  with  Hon.  Richard  Yates  for  Governor.  Owing  to  his  disinclina- 
tion for  the  office  and  his  ill-health,  he  at  first  refused  to  accept  the 
nomination,  but  finally,  at  the  urgent  request  of  his  friends  in  all  parts  of 


370  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  State,  concluded  to  accept  the  candidacy,  and,  together  with  the  entire 
Presidential  ticket,  headed  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  State  ticket,  was 
triumj)hantly  elected.  He  filled  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  during 
four  of  the  most  stirring  and  eventful  years — from  1861  to  1865 — that 
this  State  or  the  nation  has  ever  witnessed.  He  was  a  most  earnest  and 
efficient  co-worker  with  Governor  Yates,  in  the  military  preparations  and 
other  public  services  of  those  momentous  years  of  war  and  peril.  As 
President  of  the  Senate,  he  acquitted  himself  with  great  credit  and  distinc- 
tion, and  on_  the  closing  day  of  the  session  of  1865  the  following 
resolution  was  offered  by  Senator  Greene,  of  Alexander  county,  a  political 
opponent : 

"Resolved,  That  the  unanimous  thanks  of  the  Senate  are  justly  due,  and  are  hereby 
tendered  to  Lieutenant-Governor  Hoffmann,  for  the  dignified,  able  and  impartial  manner 
in  which  he  has  uniformly  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  this  assembly  during  his 
term  of  oflSce." 

The  rules  were  suspended,  and  several  of  the  leading  Senators  made 
strong,  earnest,  and  eloquent  speeches,  supporting  the  sentiment  of  the 
resolution,  complimenting  Mr.  Hoffmann's  sense  of  justice  and  knowledge 
of  parliamentary  law,  as  uniformly  exhibited  in  liis  rulings  and  decisions 
in  the  chair.  The  resolution  was  passed  unanimously,  and  it  was  richly 
deserved.  We  venture  the  assertion  that  a  more  just,  dignified,  magnani- 
mous, or  intelligent  gentleman  than  Lieutenant-Governor  Hoffmann  never 
presided  over  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

AVhen  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  re-election  to  the  Presidency,  in 
1865,  Governor  Hoffmann  was  unanimously  nominated  by  the  Republican 
Convention  as  candidate  for  Presidential  Elector  of  the  State  at  Large, 
and  he  devoted  himself  with  great  earnestness  and  energy  to  the  work  of 
the  campaign.  The  Republican  State  Central  Committee  intrusted  to  him 
the  chief  management  of  the  campaign,  as  far  as  the  Germans  were 
concerned,  and  he  probably  traveled  more  miles,  and  made  more  speeches 
than  all  the  other  candidates  for  Electors  combined. 

In  1866,  his  Republican  friends  in  the  Senatorial  District  comprising 
the  counties  of  Du  Page,  Kane  and  De  Kalb,  desired  to  nominate  him  for 
Senator,  but  he  withdrew  his  name  while  the  balloting  was  in  progress  in 
the  Convention. 

To  Lieutenant-Governor  Hoffmann  Chicago  is  largely  indebted  for  the 
good  opinion  entertained  of  the  city,  and  of  Illinois,  on  the  other  side  of 


FRANCIS   A.   HOFFMANN.  371 

the  Atlantic.  While  he  was  engaged  in  the  banking  business,  he  annually 
publislu'd,  at  his  own  expense,  a  review  of  the  trade,  coninieree  and 
finances  of  the  city,  and  scattered  some  five  tiiousand  copies  of  it  over 
different  parts  of  Europe.  Large  sums  of  money  were  invested  by  him, 
for  foreign  account,  to  assist  property-holders  here  in  the  erection  of  build- 
ings. During  that  period  he  was  also  appointed  Consul  for  the  United 
St;ites  in  Chicngo  for  several  German  States,  a  position  he  still  holds. 
Several  yeiirs  ago  he  Nvas  also  Commissioner  of  the  Foreign  Land  Depart- 
ment of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  in  which  capacity,  acting 
for  four  yeai-s,  he  was  instrumental  in  inducing  many  thousands  of 
German  families  to  settle  in  the  central  part  of  the  State,  by  which  that 
section  was  rapidly  populated,  and  its  agricultural  resources  developed. 

Although  doing  business  in  Chicago,  and  being,  in  fact,  a  Chicago 
man,  yet  Mr.  Hoffmann  resides  in  a  quiet  and  secluded  retreat  near 
Cottage  Hill,  in  Du  Page  County,  on  one  of  the  finest  farms,  and  loveliest 
paradise  homes  in  the  State.  There  he  enjoys  himself,  when  away  from 
business,  as  only  a  man  of  good  sense  and  lover  of  the  beautiful  in 
nature  and  art  can. 

Possessed  of  such  comforts,  and  a  host  of  firm  and  life-long  friends, 
he  is  spending  his  life  with  profit,  not  only  to  himself,  but  others,  and 
full  of  the  enjoyment  which  belongs  to  one  who  has  the  knowledge 
of  having  labored  faithfully  for  the  amelioration  and  elevation  of  his 
fi'llow  men. 

Politically  and  religiously,  Mr.  Hoffmann  lias  so  conducted  himself  as 
to  set  an  example  worthy  of  the  imitation  of  those  who  follow  him,  and 
we  leel  a  just  pride  in  the  fact  that  Chicago  possesses  an  adopted  citizen 
of  such  great  worth. 


ORRIN  L.  MANN. 


General  Orrix  L.  Mann,  among  the  many  whom  the  war  brought 
to  tlie  surface  of  atl'airs,  is  one  of  the  few  whom  talents,  adaptation  and 
especially  a  genius  for  earnest,  hard  work  kept  and  still  keep  there. 
The  war  did  not  end  too  soon  to  relieve  any  who  early  entered  it  from 
undero-oino;  this  crucial  test.  Those  who  oroanized  and  conducted  it  found 
themselves,  in  the  long  run,  subjected  to  the  same  conditions  and  laws 
upon  which  depend  failure  or  success  in  ordinary  pursuits.  A  factitious 
talent  sometimes  flourished  for  a  time;  and  a  capricious  impulse  or  a  s])as- 
modic  energy  of  action — exhibited  under  circumstances  exceptionally 
favorable — was  sometimes,  when  the  demands  for  its  exercise  were  not 
multiplied,  mistaken  for  masterful  genius  and  skill.  But  the  requirements 
of  the  long  struggle  were  too  varied  and  too  vast  not  to  subsidize,  either 
for  counsel,  administration,  or  leadership,  whatever  ability  lay  dormant  or 
remained  obscure  in  the  nation.  It  is  even  yet  too  early  to  fully  estimate 
the  sublime  aggregate  of  fresh,  earnest  and  practical  talent  for  statesman- 
sliip,  culture,  invention  and  reform — for  all  the  arts  of  peace  and  progress — 
which  that  regenerating  crisis  enlisted  and  monopolized.  Every  iicUl  of 
beneficent  effort  already  bears  grateful  witness  to  its  quickening  impulse 
and  supporting  strength,  and  is  destined  to  illustrate  them  yet  more 
eminently.  It  set  the  hearts  of  our  Young  America  beating  fast  with  a 
supreme,  all-combining  inspiration;  it  set  them  "beating  pure,  as  well  as 
fast."  No  task  became  too  formidable,  no  sacrifice  too  trying,  no  labor 
too  exacting  to  the  heroic  millions  who,  called  to  the  duty  of  preserving 
the  nation,  were  destined  to  re-create  it  in  the  image  of  "  more  ])erfect  union 
and  freedom."  Principally,  the  war  itself  furnislied  the  uK'aiis  for 
solving  the  greater  problem  of  peace.     It  was  the  army  of  a  greater  than 


374  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Cromwell  and  his  Puritan  Commonwealth,  dissolving  and  sinking  back 
into  the  people  from  whom  it  sprung,  of  whom  it  Avas — a  million  of 
citizens,  and  millions  taught  by  these,  who  knew  that  peace  was  to  have 
her  struggles  and  her  victories  not  less  renowned  than  war. 

To  the  multitudes  of  the  personal  friends  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
these  general  observations  will  be  sufficiently  suggestive,  and  the  writer 
need  be  at  no  pains  to  apply  them  to  one  in  whose  behalf  these  pages  are 
not  a  professional  task  but  a  personal  tribute,  prompted  by  long  and 
intimate  acquaintance.  No  success,  either  in  generalship  or  adminis- 
tration, has  been  more  pronounced  and  genuine  than  Mann's,  whose  war 
record  was  for  five  years  eminently  a  useful  one,  as  we  are  certain  that  it 
was  his  supreme  ambition  that  it  should  be.  A  worker  from  earliest 
years.  General  Mann  was  drawn  into  the  war  because  there  was  something 
for  all  unselfish  and  earnest  men  to  do.  Self-educated,  in  the  sense  that 
he  had  laboriously  commanded  the  best  means  of  self-cailture,  he  entered 
the  army  low  in  rank,  but  a  man  of  resources,  to  whom  all  ranks  held 
flattering  invitation.  Chiefly  solicitous  to  do  something  in  the  hour  of 
his  country's  sorest  need,  he  was  content  to  do  anything.  It  was  his 
maxim,  that  he  who  gives  quickly  gives  twice.  Few  soldiers  enjoyed 
Avhat  men  term  a  more  "fortunate"  career  than  he.  For  the  "help" 
(commonly  termed  "luck")  that  the  gods  are  said  to  vouchsafe  to  those 
who  help  themselves,  Mann  never  waited  long.  A  career  of  ever- 
enlarging  usefulness  and  reputation,  in  which  each  better  work  done,  each 
larger  end  achieved,  was  a  "reward  of  merit"  that  could  scarcely  have 
been  more  befitting  had  it  been  bestowed  wittingly. 

General  Mann  "came  honestly"  by  his  patriotism,  and  has  excellent 
"antecedents"  for  his  patriotic  record — both  his  grandfathers  having  been 
soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  born  in  Shardon,  Geauga 
County,  Ohio,  November  25,  1833.  Soon  after  this  date,  his  father,  a 
mechanic,  moved  to  Michigan,  where  he  died  in  1843.  The  age  of  twenty 
still  found  young  Mann  on  the  farm,  with  its  limited  advantages  for 
education  other  than  that  aflbrded  by  unlimited  opportunity  for  hard 
work.  At  that  age  a  paternal  instinct,  perhaps,  led  him  to  try  his  hand 
at  a  trade  (blacksmithing),  which  a  severe  injury  forced  him  to  abandon 
after  a  year's  apprenticeship.  His  residence  in  a  University  town,  distin- 
guished also  for  the  excellence  of  its  public  schools  (Ann  Arbor), 
naturally  led  him  to  turn  his  attention  to  study.  To  resolve  was  to 
execute,  in  spite  of  poverty  and  the  added  responsibility  of  a  mother 


ORIUN   I..    MANN.  375 

dei)endent  on  him.  His  |)iv|>:\ratoi-v  study  was  done  at  Albion, 
iiiidcr  tilt'  inspiration  (tf  one  of  tlic  most  Icrtilc  and  jnafi;netic  souls 
(C.  T.  Ilinniau,  D.  D.)  that  Providence  has  ever  given  to  education  in  the 
West.  ^loro  than  ever  straitened  in  resources,  Mann,  after  heroically 
struggling  for  two  years,  was  eompelleil  to  leave  school,  and,  in  1853, 
first  found  his  way  to  young  Chicago,  Avhere  he  lound  congenial  occu[tation 
in  a  private  school,  with  some  leisure  for  study.  In  185G,  he  entered 
college  at  Ann  Arbor,  w'liere  science,  rather  than  literature,  chiefly  won 
his  attention.  Compelled  by  ill-health  to  abandon  study  iu  his  junior 
year,  he  again  came  to  Chicago. 

This  was  in  1861,  and  he  had  not  found  time  to  engage  in  business 
when  Sumter  was  iireil  on.  That  "meant  business,"  indeed,  and  JNIann 
was  among  the  promptest  to  respond  to  the  ominous  summons.  He 
enlisted  as  a  private,  "for  three  years  or  the  war."  But,  not  content  with 
enlisting  himself,  he  sought  0])portunity  to  enlist  others,  and  soon  had  a 
company  raised  for  the  Thirty-ninth  Illinois  Ilegiment,  the  historic 
"Yates  Phalanx."  Bearing  letters  to  Governor  Yates,  Mann  sought  his 
influence  in  behalf  of  a  regiment  which  was  destined  (once  exhausting  its 
ranks  and  renewing  them  from  the  sons  of  Illinois)  to  carry  the  name 
of  that  distinguished  statesman — name  proudly  eminent  among  the 
peerless  War  Governors  of  the  North — on  its  battle-flag  through  more 
than  four  years  of  wandering  and  war.  At  the  suggestion  of  Governor 
Yates,  Mann  had  an  interview  with  Generals  Lyon  and  Blair,  tendering 
the  regiment  for  service  in  Missouri.  But  the  effort  was  futile.  Failure, 
however,  only  more  deeply  impressed  INIann  ^\  ith  the  sense  of  the  nation's 
needs,  and  furnished  motive  for  renewed  effort.  Ere  long  he  was  in  the 
presence  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Secretaries  of  War  and  State, 
introduced  by  Senator  Browning,  at  the  instance  of  Governor  Yates. 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  offer  gratefully,  most  fully  and  heartily 
concurring  in  the  belief,  now  general  among  the  people,  that  more  troops 
were  indispensable;  but  said  that  it  had  been  determined  to  accept  none 
until  Congress  should  perfect  a  military  bill.  On  the  President's  advice, 
Mann  remained  in  Washington,  encouraged  by  his  assurance — "The  boys 
from  Illinois  will,  beyond  a  doubt,  soon  have  a  chancf  to  light." 
Congress  convened  July  4th,  18()1;  but  it  was  not  until  the  23(1,  the  day 
after  the  I>ull  llun  disaster,  that  the  CJovernment  rcs[)(Midcd  to  the  popular 
sense,  long  unanimous  and  now  exacting.  On  that  day  Mann  was 
summoned  to  the  War  Department,  and  directed  to  (ill  up  the  regiment  at 


376  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

once.    Having  accomplished  this  with  remarkable  vigor  and  promptitude, 
he  was  elected  and  commissioned  Major  thereof. 

The  career  of  the  Thirty-ninth  is  historical,  and  the  barest  outline  of 
its  record  is  vividly  suggestive.  From  Illinois  to  Missouri;  thence  to 
Maryland;  soon  after  to  Virginia,  on  the  upper  Potomac — these  rapid 
movements  bring  it  fairly  into  the  field  of  action. 

Major  Mann  was  stationed  with  a  small  detachment  of  his  command 
at  Burkley  Springs,  to  guard  the  approach  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  January  2,  1862,  with  less  than  a  company  of  infantry  and  a 
few  horse,  he  met,  near  Bath,  the  advance  brigade  of  "  Stonewall "  Jackson's 
entire  army.  Falling  back,  after  a  brisk  fight  in  which  thirteen  men 
were  lost,  to  Burkley,  he  tenaciously  held  that  strong  and  vital  position 
all  the  next  day  with  his  three  companies.  Late  in  the  evening,  after 
being  nearly  surrounded,  he  skillfully  retreated  to  Sir  John's  Run,  where 
he  forded  the  Potomac,  the  water  four  feet  deep  and  anchor  ice  fringing 
both  shores.  This  stubborn  resistance,  which  retarded  the  advance  of  the 
enemy  and  enabled  other  troops  to  cross  the  river,  secured  Major  Mann's 
elevation  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel,  together  M^th  a  commenda- 
tory notice  from  General  Kelly,  commanding.  He  Avas  subsequently 
made  a  member  of  General  A.  S.  AVilliams'  staif,  but  was  permitted,  at 
his  urgent  request,  to  accompany  his  regiment  to  Western  Virginia, 
returning  whence  he  participated  in  the  first  battle  of  Winchester,  the  scene 
of  "Stonewall"  Jackson's  first  and  only  thorough  defeat.  In  May,  the 
Thirty-ninth  was  sent,  under  Colonel  INIann's  command,  into  the  Suray 
Valley  to  seize  two  important  bridges,  which  he  accomplished  after  a 
severe  engagement.  Daring  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  while  the 
regiment  was  stationed  at  Suffolk,  Colouel  INIann  served  as  President  of  a 
General  Court  Martial.  In  January,  1863,  he  accompanied  it  to 
Newbern,  North  Carolina,  and  thence  to  Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina. 

The  first  to  land  on  Folly  Island,  the  Yates  Phalanx  bore  an  energetic 
hand  in  constructing  the  works  by  which  Morris  Island  was  subsequently 
reduced.  In  the  siege  of  Forts  Wagner  and  Gregg,  Colonel  JNIann  bore 
a  prominent  part,  leading  the  brigade  which  entered  that  stronghold. 
He  informed  General  Gilmore  by  telegraph  that  the  rebels  Avere  prepar- 
ing to  desert  the  fort,  and  requested  permission  to  move  upon  their  works. 
The  request  was  granted,  and  the  result — about  sixty  prisoners  being 
taken,  with  slight  loss — was  announced  to  General  Gilmore  in  the 
following  l?(,conic  telegram  (address  and  dates  omitted),  which  went  the 


ORRIN   L.    MANN.  377 

rounds  of  the  papers,  and  wliicli  niiiilit   have  served   both  statesmen  and 
Generals  since  as  a  model  of  eeononiic  as  well  as  graphic  conciseness: 

"The  FieUl  OfTiccr  of  the  Trenches  semis  his  compliments  and  congratulations 
from  the  bomb-proof  of  fallen  Fort  Wagner,  to  the  General  Commanding,  and  wishes 
to  assure  him  that  his  confidence  in  God  and  General  Gilmore  is  unshaken." 

Colonel  Mann  passed  the  most  of  the  following  winter  in  the  recruiting 
service,  with  headquarters  at  Chicago.  His  patriotic  and  efi'ective  speeches 
in  Northern  Illinois  will  l)e  vividly  recalled  by  thousands  who,  under 
their  inspiration,  sent  sons  and  brothers  and  friends  to  iill  anew  the 
exhausted  ranks  of  the  Yates  Phalanx.  In  the  lexicon  of  his  faith  there 
was  no  such  word  as  fail;  and  while  empliatically  sustaining  the  past 
policy  of  the  Government  as  the  best  that  could  have  been  looked  for,  he 
urged  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  Avar,  wdiich  it  was  now  plain 
could  be  successfully  and  lionorably  closed  only  on  war  ])rinciples. 

On  the  expiration  of  its  term  of  service,  the  Thirty-ninth  came  home, 
February,  1864;  but  the  w^ar  was  not  yet  over.  The  sons  of  Illinois  were 
never  more  urgently  needed  than  now,  and  never  were  men  who  had 
passed  through  the  hardshijis  and  perils  of  three  years'  incessant  service 
more  willing  to  pledge  and  devote  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their 
sacred  honor  to  the  cause  in  Avhich  they  had  fought  and  their  comrades 
had  fallen.  So  the  entire  command  re-enlisted,  after  a  month's  furlough, 
and  returned  to  the  field  as  "veterans."  They  were  assigned  to  duty 
on  the  James,  under  General  B.  F.  Butler.  On  the  14th  of  ]\Iay  the 
Colonel  of  the  regiment,  now  Major-General  T.  O.  Osborne,  was 
seriously  wounded  at  the  head  of  his  brigade,  and  on  the  following  day 
the  Major  and  a  large  numl)er  of  line  officers  were  either  killed  or 
wounded.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mann  Avas  the  only  field  officer  remaining, 
and  he  had  serious  work  on  hand  at  once.  Six  days  afterwards.  General 
Longstrcet,  having  advanced  along  the  line  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  began 
intrenching  his  position.  The  situation  Avas  critical.  The  Union  ibrces 
had  been  driven  back  from  a  vital  ])()sition,  Avhich  must  beat  once  regained. 
The  Thirty-ninth  Avas  ordered  to  assume  the  ad\aiiee,  and  canu'  l>ack' 
Avith  a  large  number  of  prisoners,  among  them  a  Brigatlier-Cieneral.  l-'or 
his  gallantry  in  this  decisi\'e  action,  dis|)layed  at  the  expense  of  a  gunshot 
Avound  in  his  left  leg,  below  the  knee,  both  bones  being  shattered,  Colonel 
Mann  Avas  brevetted  Brigadier-General.  His  AVOund,  Avhieh  was  very 
serious,  kept  him  in  hospital  until  autumn.    But  his  nature  craved  ax^tivity, 


378  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

impatient  to  be  at  work  when  there  was  so  much  to  be  done;  and  so  he 
served,  as  soon  as  convalescent,  on  a  Court  Martial  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

January  1,  1865,  being  still  incapacitated  for  the  field.  General  Mann 
was  assigned  to  staif  duty  under  JNIajor-General  Ord,  and  served  as 
Provost  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Eastern  Virginia,  with  headquarters 
at  Norfolk.  The  position,  though  occupied  by  a  soldier  disabled  for 
service  in  the  field,  was  no  sinecure.  It  required  intense  application  and 
continuous  activity,  in  every  sense  save  that  of  locomotion.  The  Provost 
INIarshal  was  Mayor  and  Common  Council  in  one,  administering,  at  a 
most  critical  period,  the  affairs  of  a  city  of  mixed  population  numbering 
20,000 ;  Superintendent  of  an  extensive  public  school  system  established 
by  the  wisdom  of  General  Butler;  General  Superintendent  of  a  large 
military  prison;  and  Superintendent  of  the  City  Gas  Company.  These 
were  the  specific,  definable  duties;  and  they  were  scarcely  a  moiety 
compared  with  the  indefinite  range,  touching  every  phase  of  social  or 
municipal  life,  which  were  none  the  less  exacting  in  that  they  were 
informal  and  in  a  great  measure  voluntary.  To  discharge  duties  so 
varied,  complicated  and  delicate  (the  prototype  of  those  now  incident 
to  the  military  district  plan),  required  both  conmianding  executive  ability 
and  an  endowment  and  habit  of  tact,  decision,  and  readiness  which 
if  few  men  possess,  fewer  still  can  acquire.  Such,  however,  was  the 
union  in  General  Mann's  whole  administration  of  official  authority  and 
personal  influence,  respectively  strengthening  and  mitigating  each  other, — 
snaviter  in  moclo,  Jortiter  in  re, — that  he  received  the  hearty  approbation 
both  of  his  superior  officers  and  of  the  citizens  of  his  district,  almost 
without  distinction. 

Richmond  having  fallen,  the  Confederacy  having  yielded  to  superior 
force  and  wisdom  in  field  and  council,  it  was  supposed  that  local  military 
rule  could  be  greatly  modified  if  not  Avholly  foregone;  and  General  Mann, 
now  promoted  to  a  full  Colonelcy,  was  ordered  to  join  his  command  at 
Richmond.  The  Norfolk  Marshalship  was  abolished,  and  the  city  turned 
over  to  the  civil  authorities.  But  it  soon  became  apparent  that  the 
political  elements  were  too  profoundly  disturbed  to  be  controlled  by  any 
rule  less  absolute  than  that  which  had  conquered  a  nominal  peace. 
Norfolk  was  filled  with  freedmen,  while  the  municipality  was  practically 
in  the  hands  of  conquered  but  not  converted  rebels.  Between  the  police 
especially  and  the  negroes,  frequent  collisions  occurred,  and  society  Avas 
rapidly   degenerating    to   the    anarchy   which    precedes   and    sometimes 


ORRIN    L.   MANN.  379 

justifies  "despotism."  At  tlic  icinust  (.1"  MMJoMu-neral  Tcrrv,  ilieii 
commanding  the  Department,  General  M:iiiii  was  r('-assi<>;ne<l  to  liis  old 
district,  with  plenary  powers,  according  to  his  hicvct  rank.  lie  had  two 
regiments  of  infantrv,  one  of  cavalry,  and  a  battery  of  artillery  at  his 
command.  The  police  of  Norfollc  and  Portsmouth  were  deposed,  and 
details  from  the  military  took  their  place.  A  military  commission  wa.s 
organized  l)efore  which  loyal  citizens,  whether  white  or  Mack,  unable 
to  get  justice  at  the  hands  of  the  civil  courts,  had  a  prompt  and  lliir 
hearing.  But  few  days  passed  ere  life,  liberty,  and  good  order  were  once 
more  secure  throughout  the  contumacious  district.  A  circular,  abounding 
in  plain  and  practical  advice,  was  issued  by  General  Mann  and  distrii)uted 
among  the  frcedmen,  many  portions  of  which  became  as  liousehold  words 
in  their  mouths — nay,  were  made  frequent  texts  from  Avhich  loyalty  and 
obedience  to  law  were  discoursed  from  pulpit  and  j)latform.  Considering 
that  this  was  two  years  ago  (August,  1865),  the  dispassionate  foresight, 
the  courageous  plainness,  which  dared  be  just  to  all,  render  this  address 
worthy  of  quotation.  After  recognizing  the  Providence  that  had  given 
the  negroes  liberty  at  the  hands  of  their  masters  and  oppressors,  General 
Mann  counsels  them,  in  the  first  place,  to 

"remember    that,  being    free,    you  must   become   your  own   supporters.      You  no 

longer  have  masters  to  provide  for  you;  by  your  own  industry  and  economy  you 
must  now  live.  *  *  *  Do  not  rely  too  much  on  the  Government  for  support. 
Your  freedom  ami  our  national  existence  have  already  cost  (he  Government  millions 
of  money.  *  *  *  Remember,  meantime,  that  the  Government  is  ever  ready  to 
protect  you,  assist  and  encourage  you  in  your  freedom,  and  in  your  every  laudable 
effort  to  elevate  yourselves  in  the  scale  of  human  existence.  For  this  purpose  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  is  established,  *  *  *  to  furnish  protection  to  the  weak,  work 
for  the  poor,  and  houses  and  rations  for  the  old,  infirm  and  absolutely  needy,  and  help 
you  as  far  as  possible  to  educate  yourselves  and  your  children  It  is  established  to  do 
for  you  what  a  wise  father  would  do  for  his  children.  *  *  *  Cultivate  friendly 
relations  with  your  former  masters.  »  *  *  Those  persons  may  yet  be  among 
your  best  friends;  ihey  need  your  labor  now,  and  they  will  need  it  for  years  to  come. 
You  need  the  remuneration  which  they  will  give  you  now,  and  you  will  need  it  for 
years  to  come.  *  »  *  Abandon  at  once  and  forever  the  foolish  idea  which  many 
of  you  have  imbibed,  that    cities  and    towns  alone  can  furnish    you  means  of  support. 

*  *  *  Quit  your  peanut  peddling  and  penny  huckstering.  Leave  your  crowded 
huts  and  houses  in  cities  and  towns,  and,  as  many  of  you  as  can,  go  to  the  country. 

*  *  *  But,  if  you  must  stay  in  cities  and  towns,  be  not  idle;  loiter  not  lazily 
about  the  streets,  but  follow  the  noble  example  of  enterprise  and  industry  that  many 
of  your  race  have  set  you.  Let  your  boys  enter  shops  and  learn  trades;  let  them 
become  workers  of  wood,  iron,  leather    and  cloth.      *      •      »      Let    your  girls    braid 


380  BIOGEAPHICAL,  SKETCHES. 

bonnets  and  hats,  manage  sewing-machines,  knit  socks  and  control  kitchens.  Let 
each  Saturday  night  find  a  few  centi,  a  few  dimes  or  a  few  dollars  laid  aside  from 
your  honest  earnings  for  future  use.  *  »  *  Cultivate  and  advocate  the  highest 
respect  for  the  marriage  relation.  Discountenance  at  once  the  loose,  irresponsible 
manner  in  which  many  of  you,  owing  to  the  peculiarities  of  your  former  situation,  are 
now  living,  *  *  *  and  thus  take  one  step  further  from  the  barbarous  regions 
from  whose  borders  you  have  lately  escaped.  *  *  *  Be  not  over  anxious  to  vote 
at  present,  but  let  your  anxiety  be  rather  to  learn  how  to  read  and  write.  *  *  * 
Buy  books  and  read  them.  Go  to  the  schools;  attend  your  churches,  and  lose  no 
opportunity  to  gain  information  and  secure  knowledge." 

Such  was  the  policy,  exhibiting  malice  towards  none  and  charity 
towards  all,  which  soon  reduced  rebellious  elements,  winning  even  more 
than  it  compelled.  The  district  was  thoroughly  ''reconstructed"  when 
General  Mann  took  final  leave  of  it,  in  December,  1865,  to  be  mustered 
out  with  his  regiment  at  Springfield,  Illinois. 

The  foregoing  is  a  simple  record,  it  is  seen — a  record  of  work  well 
and  promptly  done,  and  of  ever  new  responsibilities  and  added  honors, 
merited,  though  unsought.  Filling  an  important  place  in  the  record  of 
the  great  war.  General  jNIann's  work  may  prove  to  have  a  superior  value 
as  prefatory  to  the  not  less  weighty  and  more  congenial  demands  of 
peace.  A  versatility  exhibited  in  many  different  spheres  of  soldiership 
and  administration,  and  the  large  experience  thus  gained,  were  admirable 
preparations  for  the  responsible  position  to  which  a  Government  not 
"  uno-rateful "  has  called  him.  As  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue  for  the 
First  District  of  Illinois,  Mann  has  for  a  year  exhibited  the  same 
commanding  qualities  and  nice  adaptations,  the  same  faithful  and  honest 
devotion  to  duty,  which  we  have  gratefully  recorded.  Active  before  the 
war  in  whatever  sphere  of  philanthropic  and  liberal  enterprise  was  open 
in  his  community,  exhibiting  throughout  a  long  military  career  the  same 
attractive  spirit,  he  has  returned  to  the  city  of  his  choice  to  adorn  and 
enrich  it  with  the  same  beneficent  activities.  Instant  in  season  and  out 
of  season  in  every  good  Avord  and  work,  the  cause  of  philanthropy,  of 
culture,  of  morals,  will  yet  owe  much  to  him  and  to  the  many  such  as  he 
whom  the  war  has  given  us. 


l^ 


ROBERT  COLLIER, 


I 
I 


If  the  reader  has  seen  the  pastor  of  Unity  Church,  he  has  seen  a 
sturdy  built  man,  a  little  turned  of  forty,  with  sturdiness  and  kindliness 
strikingly  blended  in  his  countenance.  It  is  a  countenance  to  arrest  the 
attention  and  insure  confidence,  while  it  is  so  well  known  to  them  that 
are  ready  to  perish  for  lack  of  sympathy  and  succor,  that  the  history  of 
its  owner  is  entitled  to  be  better  known  to  the  great  public. 

The  parents  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Collyee  were  Samuel  and  Harriet 
Collyer,  of  Keithley,  Yorkshire,  England,  where  Robert  was  born  on 
tlie  8th  of  December,  1823.  This  was  the  birth-place,  too,  of  Charlotte 
Bronte,  who  is  well  remembered  by  our  subject,  and  is  spoken  of  by  him 
with  tender  esteem. 

The  father  was  a  blacksmith,  one  of  the  plain  men  of  England,  whose 
brawny  shoulders  bear  up  the  throne  and  make  it  safe.  He  died  at  the 
anvil,  in  1844.  The  mother  remains  to  this  day  a  woman  of  rare  sort,  as 
to  force  and  vigor  of  body  and  mind.  In  both  parents  might  have  been 
plainly  seen  that  combination  of  gentleness  and  earnestness  which  is  so 
conspicuous  in  the  son  of  whom  we  write. 

While  Robert  was  quite  a  lad,  the  family  went  to  reside  in  Fenston 
parish,  which  will  always  be  distinguished  for  having  been  the  birth-place 
and  death-place  of  Edward  Fairfax,  the  poet  aii<l  translator  of  Tasso. 
Before  he  was  eight  years  old,  young  Collyer  was  put  to  work  in  a  lactory, 
where  he  remained  until  his  eighteenth  year,  when  he  was  apprenticed  to 
a  blacksmith  at  Ilkley,  in  Wharfedale.  He  stood  at  the  Ibrge  until  his 
emigration  to  America,  in  1850. 

Knowing,  however,  what  this  faithful  factory-boy  and  this  stidwart 
man  at  the  forge  in  the  old  country  has  come  to  in  the  new,  we  will  not 


382  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

wonder  when  we  learn  that  as  he  toiled  he  thought.  His  brain  was  at 
work,  as  well  as  his  hands,  through  all  those  years  of  boyhood  and  early 
manhood.  He  very  early  took  to  books.  He  cannot  remember  when  he 
could  not  read.  He  read  everything  he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  But 
some  of  the  books  which  he  devoured  with  an  insatiable  appetite  were  the 
works  of  the  master  workmen.  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  made  him  many 
an  invigorating  meal. 

He  followed  Kobinson  Crusoe  every  step  of  his  adventurous  career, 
and  Avas  lost  for  hours  in  the  fascinating  pages  of  Goldsmith.  The  Bible 
furnished  him  nourishment  for  brain  as  well  as  soul,  while  his  desire  for 
knowledge  of  any  sort,  and  every  sort,  was  a  perpetual  hunger  within 
him.  He  stood  at  the  Ibrge,  waiting  for  his  iron  to  heat,  with  a  book 
open  before  him.  The  same  book  would  re-appear  re-opened  by  the  side 
of  his  plate  on  the  table.  Instead  of  sleeping,  he  was  reading.  He  bent 
over  his  book  while  the  stage-coach  carrietl  him  on  errands  of  business  or 
pleasure  through  the  country. 

Early  in  life,  he  was  enamored  of  nature,  and  wooed  her  in  the 
woodland  and  on  the  moor.  He  rambled  far  into  the  night,  and  at  break 
of  day,  thinking  out  the  thoughts  suggested  by  what  he  had  read,  or 
declaiming  to  the  brook  that  murmured  its  assent,  or  to  the  forest  which 
bent  over  him  as  though  intent  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say. 

This  was  what  he  was  about  lor  many  years,  going  forth  to  his  labor 
until  the  evening,  and  then  going  forth  to  his  studies  or  his  musings  until 
the  morning,  denying  himself  sleep  and  rest  that  he  might  supply  himself 
with  knowledge  and  wisdom.  He  cared  more  for  his  mind  than  his  body. 
He  was  more  devoted  to  life  than  raiment,  and  in  due  time  he  had  his 
reward. 

In  1847,  when  he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  came  that  crisis  in  his 
experience,  called  in  the  Xew  Testament,  "the  new  birth,"  and  he  became 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  his  neighborhood,  which  licensed 
him  to  preach  the  next  year.  His  gift  of  speech  and  his  culture  drew 
him  interested  hearers  immediately.  The  whole  appearance  and  behaviour 
of  the  man  won  him  friends  and  made  him  a  public  favorite.  His 
mellow-heartedness,  no  less  than  his  intellectuality,  secured  him  a  firm 
hold  upon  the  common  people.  They  never  came  to  him  in  vain,  if  they 
had  anything  to  ask  of  him  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  confer. 

In  1850,  he  carried  out  a  wish  which  he  had  long  cherished,  and  came 
to  this  country.     He  went  to  Shoemakertown,  one  of  the  suburbs  of 


ROIJERT  COLLYER.  383 

Pliiladelpliia,  and  Avciit  to  liaiuinLT-inaking  and  prearliiiijij.  Wliat  liis 
hands,  as  well  as  his  tongue,  i'ound  to  do,  he  did  with  his  llli^ht.  He  met 
the  hardshijvs  inevitahle  to  sueh  a  manner  oi"  lite  with  hiaverv  and 
patience.  His  philanthropy  was  now  a  noticeable  element  of  his  character. 
Pie  had,  by  natural  disposition,  a  deep  and  deepening  sympathy  for  the 
unfortunate  of  his  fellows.  He  yearned  with  warm  and  anxious  hcait 
over  the  slave,  the  prisoner,  the  victims  of  op[)ressive  laws,  and  those 
who  are  cast  out  and  trodden  under  foot  of  society. 

The  slavery  controversy  engrossed  the  country.  A  man  of  Mr. 
Collyer's  devotion  to  the  two  commandments  upon  which  hang  all  the 
law  and  the  pro})hcts,  could  not  but  take  sides  in  such  a  struggle.  He 
did.  He  took  sides  with  the  Xorth  ami  liberty.  He  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  slave.  Bravely,  kindly,  sternly,  lie  stood  for  the  '' inalienaljle 
rights "  of  all  mankind.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  eminent  aboli- 
tionists, and  ardently  sympathized  in  their  self-sacrificing  movement. 

He  was  indignant  at  the  pro-slavery  conservatism  of  the  Philadelphia 
Conference.  In  those  days,  "abolitionism"  out  of  the  church  was  counted 
"heresy"  within  it.  Honest  men  differed  as  to  the  duty  of  the  sects 
respecting  the  great  national  sin.  Devout  men  separated  on  questions  of 
expediency.  Some  anti-slavery  Christians  saw  more  Christianity,  as  they 
believed,  in  the  humanitarian  than  the  sectarian  abolitionists.  Questions 
of  theology  became  entangled  with  questions  of  politics.  Slavery  was  the 
test  question.  Parties  in  the  church,  as  well  as  parties  in  the  State,  found 
themselves  ranged  and  assorted  according  to  their  position  on  the  question 
of  negro  servitude.  "The  church"  and  the  "reformers"  came  into  colli- 
sion. Some  who  sided  with  the  latter  seceded  from  the  former.  So  many 
of  the  orthodox  adhered  to  the  "South  side  view,"  that  "orthodoxy" 
came  to  be,  in  the  estiiuation  of  some,  synonomous  with  pro-slavery,  and 
"heterodoxy"  equivalent  to  an  uncompromising  love  of  liberty.  With  a 
change  of  attitude  toward  the  church  came  a  change  of  opinion  as  to  some 
of  its  doctrines.  Earnest  and  honest  men  chose  the  anti-slavery  side, 
though  it  necessitated  a  metaphysical  or  theological  change  of  base.  It 
was  so  witii  Mr.  Collyer.  \\'itii  his  abolitionism  came  his  denial  of  certain 
theological  tenets,  for  which  he  was  arraigned  and  deprived  of  his  lieense 
by  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in  January,  1859. 

The  same  year,  he  came  to  Chicago  to  take  charge  of  "the  ministry  at 
large,"  under  the  auspices  of  the  Unitarian  Congregational ists.  In  May, 
he  began  to  preach  for  Unity  ( 'hnreh,  and  for  three  years  did  the  work  of 


384  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

both  positions.  He  then  resigned  the  former,  and  has  ever  since  devoted 
himself  exclusively  to  the  latter,  with  a  success  which  is  one  of  the  most 
worthy,  as  well  as  noteworthy,  of  any  of  the  sort  in  the  city.  The  church 
has  a  new  edifice  under  way,  which  is  to  cost  $150,000. 

Mr.  Collyer's  philanthropy  found  an  open  door  and  a  large  room  in 
our  late  civil  war.  He  was  three  months  with  the  national  army,  in  the 
service  of  the  Sanitary  Commission.  He  visited  every  sufferer  by  the 
Quantrel  massacre,  doing  what  he  could  for  them  in  their  horrible  condi- 
tion. After  the  battles  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Pittsburg  Landing,  he 
was  promptly  on  the  ground,  ministering  to  the  many  and  grievous 
necessities  of  the  Avounded.  He  went,  with  his  bandages  and  his  oil  of 
joy,  in  the  Avake  of  the  terrible  tornado  which  swept  over  Illinois  and 
Iowa.  And  while  few  excelled  him  in  good  Samaritanism  during  the 
war,  none  were  more  patriotic  with  pen  and  tongue.  He  stepped  to 
the  front  rank  of  opinion  when  the  fall  of  Sumter  roused  the  nation,  and 
never  has  taken  a  back  step  since.  He  believed  in  and  urged  emancipa- 
tion when  the  people  persisted  in  their  blindness  with  respect  to  this 
pivotal  measure.  He  stood  manfully  by  all  in  authority,  civil  and  military, 
who  stood  manfully  by  liberty  and  the  Union.  He  spoke  and  wrote, 
from  first  to  last,  against  all  compromises  and  in  favor  of  the  use  of  every 
means  that  would  carry  the  war  to  a  triumphant  consummation. 

As  a  preacher,  Mr.  Collyer  is  tender,  fresh,  and  brilliant.  His 
language  is  unhackneyed,  and  his  way  of  putting  a  thing  eminently 
sensible  and  practical.  He  speaks  from  a  full  heart,  therefore,  to  a  full 
house.  A  volume  of  his  sermons,  called  "Nature  and  Life,"  has  recently 
been  published,  and  has  had  a  circulation  which  furnishes  conclusive 
evidence  of*  their  author's  popularity  with  the  reading  and  reflecting 
public. 

Mr.  Collyer  has  had  "loud  calls"  to  New  York  and  Boston,  but  he 
believes  too  heartily  in  Chicago,  and  has  too  profound  a  faith  in  it,  and 
too  tenacious  an  attachment  for  it,  as  a  harvest  field  of  Christian  endeavor, 
to  exchange  his  residence  here,  however  attended  with  toil  and  self-sacrifice, 
for  a  home  elsewhere,  however  comfortable  and  desirable.  And  if  the 
"perishing  classes,"  or  any  classes  of  the  city,  have  the  desire  of  their 
hearts,  Chicago  will  never  be  without  its  Robert  Collyer. 


CHARLES  N.   IIOLDEN. 


I 


It  was  once  said  by  Sir  Astley  Cooper,  to  liis  graduating  class  of 
medical  students:  "Now  gentlemen,  give  me  leave  to  tell  you  on  what 
your  success  in  life  will  depend.  Firstly,  upon  a  good  and  constantly 
increasing  knowledge  of  your  profession;  secondly,  on  an  industrious 
discharge  of  your  duties;  thirdly,  upon  the  preservation  of  your  moral 
character.  Unless  you  possess  the  first — knowledge — you  ought  not  to 
succeed,  and  no  honest  man  can  wish  you  success.  Without  the  second — 
industry — no  one  will  ever  succeed.  And  unless  you  preserve  your  moral 
character,  even  if  it  were  possible  that  you  could  succeed,  it  would  be 
impossible  you  could  be  happy." 

The  career  of  Hox.  Charles  N.  Holden  furnishes  a  practical 
illustration  of  the  great  surgeon's  wisdom  and  correctness  in  this  advice, 
and  a  healthful  example  for  the  young  men  of  our  country.  His  parents, 
William  C.  Holdcn  and  Sarah  Braynard,  emigrated,  soon  after  the  war  of 
1812,  from  New  Hampshire  to  Fort  Covington,  in  Northern  New  York, 
where  he  was  born  May  13,  1816.  His  father  was  an  industrious  farmer, 
and  his  mother  an  energetic  helpmeet,  whose  life  was  given  to  the  welfare 
of  her  family.  The  necessities  of  that  early  day  prevented  him  from 
devoting  more  than  a  few  months  yearly  to  the  district  school  or  village 
academy,  but  he  progressed  so  well  in  his  education  that  at  the  age  of 
twenty  he  himself  wielded  the  pedagogue's  birch.  After  spending  a  year 
as  clerk  in  a  store,  where  he  acquired  a  tasto  for  business,  he  left  home  with 
forty  dollars  in  his  purse,  to  make  a  home  in  Chicago.  July  5th,  1837, 
he  landed  here  with  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket,  and  found  none  of  his 
friends,  the  Woodburys,  who  preceded  him,  and  ncj  opening  for  a  young 
man  but  the  open  country.     With  a  brave  heart  in  his  bosom,  and   his 


386  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

clean  linen  in  a  bundle,  he  started  to  find  his  uncle,  a  farmer  in  Will 
County.  Two  days  of  wandering  took  him  thither  and  introduced 
him  to  Western  hospitality.  He  immediately  located  a  claim,  hired  a 
breaking-  team  of  five  yoke  of  oxen,  with  his  cousin,  a  lad  of  ten,  as  driver, 
and  commenced  life  on  the  prairie.  That  youthful  driver  is  now  an 
Alderman  of  this  city,  one  of  the  most  prosperous,  respected  and  noble 
among  the  prominent  citizens  of  Chicago — Hon.  C.  C.  P.  Holden. 

From  Fort  Covington,  Mrs.  Woodbury,  subsequently  Charles'  mother- 
in-law,  removed  with  her  family  to  Chicago.  She  Avas  the  widow  of 
Major  Jesse  Woodbury,  who  was  the  cousin  and  associate  of  United  States 
Senator  Levi  Woodbury,  Jackson's  and  Van  Buren's  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  uncle  of  Mrs.  Montgomery  Blair.  This  accession  to 
Chicago  proved  a  magnet  to  draw  the  young  farmer  to  the  city,  where  he 
was  clerk,  in  the  lumber  office  of  John  H.  Kinzie,  Esq.,  whose  mag- 
nanimity he  recollects  with  gratitude.  His  leisure  hours  were  spent  in 
reading  upon  various  subjects,  which  made  him  a  careful  observer  and  a 
man  of  wide  general  intelligence.  In  the  spring  of  1838,  with  three 
hundred  dollars  which  he  had  saved,  he  commenced  business  in  a  log  store, 
near  Lake  street  bridge.  Three  years  afterwards  he  made  another 
venture,  the  most  successful  of  his  life,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Frances 
Woodbury.  She  has  proved  her  womanly  qualities  in  the  long  course  of 
years,  and  stands  beside  her  husband  to  share  the  well-earned  results 
of  a  prosperity  to  which  she  has  contributed  her  full  measure,  and  is  the 
mother  of  six  children — five  sons  and  one  daughter. 

In  1852,  after  various  successful  changes  and  inv^estments,  Mr.  Holden 
sold  his  interest  in  the  mercantile  business.  In  1856,  he  organized  the 
Firemen's  Insurance  Company,  with  a  subscribed  capital  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  ten  thousand  paid  in.  The  profits  of  the  office, 
before  he  left  it,  paid  the  remaining  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  and 
gave  the  stockholders  fifty  thousand  cash  dividends,  and  the  stock  sold  as 
high  as  $1.45  and  $1.50.  This  was  an  unparalleled  success,  whicli  was 
recognized,  upon  his  resignation,  by  the  presentation  to  him,  on  the  part 
of  the  Directors,  of  a  complete  silver  tea  service  that  combined  elegance 
and  beauty.  He  was  immediately  elected  President  of  the  United  States 
Brass  and  Clock  Company,  and  superintended  the  erection  of  their 
extensive  works  on  the  site  selected  by  him  at  Austin,  near  Chicago. 

His  political  life  began  when  he  was  chosen  Alderman  of  the  Fifth 
Ward,  in  1855.     'the  Council  having  voted  themselves  each  a  gold-headed 


CHARLES   N.   HOLDEN.  387 

caiie,  Mr.  Hoklcu  opposed  it  as  illegal,  and  Mayor  Boone  vetoed  the 
appropriation,  but  the  majority  ruled,  and  took  their  canes.  The  following 
year,  at  their  review,  the  firemen  ])resented  Mr.  Holden  a  splendid  zebra- 
wood,  gold-headed  cane.  lie  has  acted  as  Treasurer  of  the  Firemen's 
Benevolent  Society  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  was  a  prime  mover  in 
the  erection  of  the  magnificent  monument  at  Rosehill  Cemetery,  which 
commemorates  the  heroic  services  of  these  protectors  of  property  and  life. 
He  was  also  elected  City  Treasurer,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  in  1857,  but 
uas  defeated  in  the  canvass  for  Mayor  at  a  subsequent  period.  At  that 
time  the  party  had  become  demoralized,  and  Mr.  Holden  was  nominated 
against  his  will.  He  was  known  to  be  a  sterling  temperance  man,  who 
would  not  cater  to  any  immoral  or  depraved  interest  whatever,  and  this 
operated  against  him  in  certain  quarters.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  radical 
views  and  conservative  spirit.  He  searches  for  the  principles  of  truth  and 
justice  that  underlie  every  question,  and  on  these  foundations  he  builds 
with  prudence  and  caution,  and  yet  with  great  perseverance  and  deter- 
mined energy.  He  believed  in  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  labored  to  secure  his 
nomination.  He  was  one  of  the  Committee  of  General  Arrangements  who 
planned  and  built  the  "Wigwam"  upon  the  lot  selected,  and  from  the 
plan  sketched  by  him.  New  York  politicians  had  combined  to  nominate 
William  H.  Seward,  and  were  able  to  command  immense  sums  of  money 
to  effect  their  object.  Mr.  Holden  found  several  of  the  main  wire-pullers — 
among  them  Greeley,  Weed,  Clapp  and  Webb — going  from  the  ante-room 
to  the  platform  and  back  again,  to  arrange  and  consult,  and  saw  that  they 
would  prove  powerful  enemies  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  They  had  only  a  club 
badge,  which  did  not  entitle  them  to  a  seat  on  the  platform,  and  when 
they  assembled  in  the  ante-room,  he  ordered  tlic  door-keejier  to  shut  them 
in  and  allow  no  one  to  go  upon  the  platform  Avithout  a  delegate's  badge. 
They  were  caught,  and  pleaded  and  swore,  raised  the  window  and  tried  to 
loan  badges,  but  all  in  vain.  They  were  imprisoned,  and  with  long  faces, 
waited  till  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  announced,  when  they  were 
let  out,  and  suffered  to  go  to  the  platlbrm.  Mr.  Holden  worked  with 
vigor  during  the  campaign,  and  when  the  first  rebel  gun  was  heard  at 
Charleston,  he  predicted  that  this  wa.s  the  knell  of  slavery.  During  the 
dark  days  of  the  war  he  never  despaired  of  the  Republic,  and  oidy  teared 
lest  some  compromise  should  be  made  that  would  save  the  institution  in 
whose  interest  secession  and  rebellion  arose.  He  sent  two  men  to  the  war, 
'ind  gave  efficient  aid  to  the  soldiers  of  Illinois.     He  always  constituted  v 


388  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

portion  of  that  anti-slaveiy  leaveu  which  lias  now  so  thoroughly  permeated 
the  popular  heart  and  will.  An  earnest  worker  for  the  cause  he  believed 
to  be  righteous,  he  has  served  as  chairman  of  various  conventions.  In 
1867,  the  office  of  Commissioner  of  Taxes  for  Chicago  was  created  by  the 
Legislature,  and  jNlr.  Holdeu  was  elected  to  fill  the  position  for  four  years, 
for  which  he  is  admirably  fitted  by  his  business  knowledge  and  sagacity, 
and  his  incorruptible  honesty.  Thus  he  has  grown  up,  not  like  Jonah's 
gourd,  in  a  night,  but  like  an  oak  planted  in  the  earth,  slowly  and  steadily 
gathering  strength,  and  sending  out  its  branches,  till  it  becomes  an  object 
of  familiar  acquaintance  and  universal  confidence. 

From  his  flither  he  derived  a  sturdy  constitution,  a  full  muscular 
frame,  and  vigorous  health.  His  domestic  affections  are  strong,  his 
temper  is  generous  and  cordial,  his  manners  are  frank  to  bluntness,  his 
friendships  are  lasting  and  sincere,  and  his  life  is  unblemished.  He  seems 
to  have  but  entered  upon  the  prime  of  his  manhood  and  powers  of 
usefulness.  He  has  probably  been  the  counselor  and  friendly  adviser 
of  more  persons  than  any  other  man  in  his  position,  on  account  of  the 
trust  he  inspires  in  the  coolness  and  judicial  weight  of  his  opinions.  His 
taciturn  and  abstract  manner  sometimes  leads  to  the  idea  that  he  is  cold, 
distant  and  haughty.  But  nothing  is  less  true.  A  tender  heart  beats  in 
his  breast,  and  he  weighs  men  in  the  scale  of  manhood,  and  delights  in 
doing  good.  He  has  given  his  time  and  means  to  education  with  generous 
enthusiasm.  He  was  chosen  President  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and, 
after  his  retirement,  one  of  the  new  school  buildings  was  named  in  honor 
of  him.  He  had  also  manifested  profound  interest  in  the  higher  grade 
of  culture  provided  for  in  the  University  and  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary  founded  in  this  city. 

Mr.  Holden  early  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  for  whose 
progress  he  has  made  every  form  of  sacrifice,  and  in  whose  communion  he 
has  gained  devoted  friends.  His  wife  and  he  were  earnest  and  prominent 
members  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and,  with  others,  constituted  the 
Tabernacle,  now  Second  Baptist  Church,  where  he  has  been  foremost  in 
libei'ality  and  labors  as  Trustee,  Chorister,  Treasurer,  and  Superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  School. 

What  can  be  more  desirable  than  such  a  life  ?  In  the  material,  and 
educational,  and  moral,  and  religious  development  of  this  metropolis,  he 
has  had  a  decided  influence.  His  labors  have  yielded  him  temporal  com- 
fort and  wealth,  his  character  has  unfolded  into  a  fountain  of  beneficences, 


CHARLES   N.  HOLDEN.  389 

his  family  are  growing  uj)  in  iu»nor  around  iiini,  vice  Lia.s  not  .sipped  the 
foundations  of  health,  nor  unbelief  soured  iiis  temper  or  liardened  his 
heart.  Piussing  on  towards  the  end,  he  rises  into  a  purer  atmosphere, 
where  he  enjoys  broader  views,  and  above  gleams  the  glory  that  awaits 
the  victorious  Christian. 


I 


EDWARD  S.   SALOMON. 


Edwaed  S.  Salomon  was  born  in  Schleswig,  Duchy  of  Schleswig, 
December  25,  1836,  the  eldest  of  eleven  children.  His  father,  S.  M. 
Salomon,  was  born  in  Schleswig,  May  17,  1811,  and  his  mother  in 
1812,  in  the  city  of  Pevew,  in  Holstein.  His  father  was  a  merchant, 
carrying  on  business  in  Schleswig,  and  possessed  of  sufficient  means  to 
give  his  son  a  handsome  education.  He  attended  one  of  the  best  schools 
in  the  city,  renowned  for  its  excellent  colleges,  and  when,  in  1848, 
the  war  broke  out  in  Schleswig-Holstein  against  Denmark,  he  took  a 
lively  interest  in  military  matters,  and  military  science  became  a  part 
of  his  studies.  He  continued  the  study  of  the  art  of  Avar,  little  dreaming 
of  the  demand  that  would  be  made  for  that  knowledge  in  a  foreign 
countiy,  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  the  war  ended.  He 
then  went  to  Hamburg  and  engaged  in  mercantile  business  until  1854, 
when  he  left  his  native  land  for  America,  with  very  limited  means,  but 
with  a  good  stock  of  knowledge,  shrewdness  and  courage. 

In  1855,  he  arrived  in  Chicago,  and  obtained  a  situation  as  clerk  in  a 
small  store  in  the  Xorth  Division.  Subsequently,  he  was  l)ook-keeper  in 
a  hat  and  cap  store.  In  1858,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law — had 
the  practical  aid  of  a  clerkship  with  Lewis  H.  Davis,  Esq.,  then  Justice 
of  the  Peace.  He  was  soon  admitted  to  tlie  bar,  and  aasociated  himself 
with  the  firm  of  Peck  &  Buell.  The  firm  rapidly  reached  a  lucrative 
practice,  but  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  threw  down  law-books  and 
briefs,  and  entered  the  Twenty-fourth  Illinois  Regiment — bettor  known 
as  the  Hecker-Jajger  Regiment — as  Second  Lieutenant.  He  was  succes- 
sively promoted  in  this  regiment  to  the  positions  of  First  Lieutenant, 
Captain  and    Major,  when  Colonel    Ilecker,  owing   to   difficulties  with 


392  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

some  of  his  officers,  left  the  regiment.  ISIajor  Salomon  left  with  him, 
and  the  Eighty -second,  or  new  Hecker  Regiment,  was  organized,  and 
he  received  the  appointment  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Salomon  marched  with  the  regiment  to  Virginia, 
and  commanded  it  during  the  three  days'  memorable  battle  of  Gettysburg. 
On  the  first  day  he  covered  a  retreat  through  the  town  in  gallant  and 
masterly  style,  and  had  a  horse  shot  under  liim,  bruising  him  severely. 
He  resumed  the  command  again,  and  almost  immediately  had  another 
horse  shot  under  him,  but  escaped  any  further  personal  injury.  On  the 
second  day  of  the  battle  he  commanded  a  highly  successful  charge,  and  was 
highly  complimented  for  his  bravery  by  several  superior  officers  in  com- 
mand. Major-General  Schurz,  in  his  official  report  to  General  Howard, 
August  20,  1863,  says: 

"On  the  part  taken  by  my  Division  in  the  actions  of  July  2  and  3,  I  have  the  honor 
to  submit  the  following  report : 

****** 

"Between  six  and  seven  o'clock,  P.  M.,  July  2,  the  enemy  made  a  demonstration 
upon  our  right  wing.  As  soon  as  the  tiring  commenced,  you  ordered  me  to  send 
one  of  my  Brigades  to  the  support  of  General  Ames,  commanding  First  Division.  I 
took  the  First  Brigade,  Colonel  Von  Amsberg  commanding,  out  of  its  position,  filliug 
its  place  behind  the  stone  wall  with  the  reserve  regiments  of  the  Second  Brigade. 
One  of  the  five  regiments  of  the  First  Brigade,  the  74th  Pennsylvania  Volunteers, 
was  left  with  General  Ames  to  strengthen  his  right  wing.  The  remaining  four 
were  directed  towards  a  strip  of  woods  on  the  right  of  the  First  Division,  in  which  the 
firing  had  become  very  heavy,  and  where,  according  to  a  report  of  some  staff  officers  of 
the  First  Corps,  immediate  aid  was  needed.  Two  regiments,  the  157th  New  York  and 
61st  Ohio,  were  guided  by  one  of  these  officers,  while  the  two  others,  the  82d  Illinois  and 
the  45th  New  York,  were  led  by  the  Chief  of  my  Staff,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Otto,  of  the 
45th  New  York.  It  had,  meanwhile,  become  quite  dark,  the  direction  of  the  fight  being 
indicated  by  nothing  but  the  sound  of  musketry.  The  regiments  entered  the  woods  with 
the  greatest  determination,  and  drove  the  enemy  from  our  rifle-pits,  of  which,  at  several 
points,  he  had  already  gained  possession. 

"It  is  my  pleasant  duty  to  mention,  as  especially  deserving,  the  names  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Otto,  who  superintended  this  operation  with  great  judgment  and  courage,  and  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Salomon,  of  the  82d  Illinois,  who  displayed  the  highest  order  of  cool- 
ness and  determination  under  very  trying  circumstances.  At  9  o'clock,  the  enemy  was 
repulsed  at  that  point,  and  no  further  demonstration  made." 

****** 

In  this  battle  Lieutenant-Colonel  Salomon's  regiment  behaved  with 
great  valor  and  lost  one-third  of  its  number  in  killed  and  wounded. 
Colonel  Hecker,  who  had  been  absent,  owing  to  a  wound  received  at 
Chancellorville,  now  returned  and  resumed  command  of  the  regiment,  and 


EDWARD  S.   SALOMON.  393 

upon  the  special  order  of  General  Howard,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Salomon 
was  assigned  to  tiie  command  of  the  153d  Pennsylvania  Regiment,  which 
was  in  an  open  state  of  mutiny,  and  had  refused  to  march  or  obey  orders. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Salomon  was  rapidly  placing  the  regiment  on  its  proper 
footing  when  it  was  mustered  out,  its  time  of  service  having  expired,  and 
he  was  appointed  Provost  Marshal  General  on  General  Howard's  staff. 

In  September,  1863,  the  Corps  to  which  he  was  attached  was  ordered 
"West  under  command  of  General  Hooker.  Colonel  Hecker  took  command 
of  a  Brigade,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Salomon  succeeded  him  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  old  regiment.  He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Mission 
Ridge,  and  in  the  march  through  East  Tennessee  for  the  relief  of  Burnside, 
who  was  besieged  at  Knoxville.  He  was  also  a  sharer  in  the  glorious 
triumphs  of  General  Sherman  around  Atlanta.  He  took  an  active  part  in 
the  battles  of  Resacca,  Dallas,  Pine  Hill,  Lost  Mountain,  Bald  Knob, 
Kenesaw  iMountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  and  the  siege  and  capture  of 
Atlanta  itself.  At  the  battle  of  Resacca  he  did  what  many  another 
gallant  officer  has  done  in  a  moment  of  imminent  peril — act  without 
ordei's.  In  this  instance  he  made  a  furious  charge  on  the  left  of  the  line, 
to  save  the  5th  Indiana  Battery,  and  succeeded,  receiving  the  thanks  of 
Generals  Hooker  and  AVilliams  for  his  valor  and  the  gallantry  of  his 
regiment.  At  Dallas,  the  regiment  lost  ninety-eight  men  out  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty-six,  and  fought  under  a  terrific  fire  until  their  last 
cartridge  was  exhausted.  At  Peach  Tree  Creek,  the  regiment  under  his 
command  also  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  and  lost  nearly  one-third  of  its 
number.  No  better  recommendation  of  Col.  Salomon's  valor  could  be 
desired  than  the  following  indorsement  of  an  application  for  a  commission 
as  Colonel,  from  "  Fighting  Joe  Hooker :" 

"  Headqdartebs,  Twentieth  Corps,  June  28,  1864. 
"Respectfully  forwarded.    I  fully  concur  in  the  within  recommendation.    Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Salomon  has  won  the  good  opinion  of  all  his  commanders  by  bis  great  gallantry 
and  good  conduct,  and  it  will  be  but  a  just  and  graceful  appreciation  of  his  services  to 
confer  the  preferment  upon  him. 

"  (Signed)  Joseph  Hooker,  Major-General  Commanding." 

The  regiment  marched  through  Georgia  with  General  Sherman,  while 
Colonel  Salomon  was  sent  to  Xa.shville  Mith  orders.  He  could  not  reach 
them  before  they  left  Atlanta,  and  was  obliged  to  remain  in  ^Xashvillc 
But  his  time  was  fully  employed,  for  he  had  a  Brigade  assigned  to  him 
during  the  battle  of  Nashville,  and  after  the  battle,  he  left  in  command  of 


394  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

some  troops  for  Xew  York  and  Savannah,  where  he  again  joined  his  com- 
mand. Pie  thence  marched  through  South  and  North  Carolina,  partici- 
pated in  the  battles  of  Avery sboro'  and  Benton ville,  and  made  a  splendid 
charge  at  the  latter  battle,  which  saved  a  part  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps 
from  a  great  disaster. 

From  Goldsboro',  North  Carolina,  Brigadier-General  Robinson  thus 
testifies  to  Colonel  Salomon's  abilities  as. a  soldier: 

"  Headquarters,  Third  Brigade,  First  Division,  20th  A.  C, 
"Near  Goldsboro,  N.  C,  April  2,  1865. 
"Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

"Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  recommend,  and  earnestly  request,  the  appointment  of 
Colonel  Edward  S.  Salomon,  of  the  82d  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  as  Brevet  Brigadier- 
General  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services. 

"Colonel  Edward  S.  Salomon  joined  this  Brigade  with  his  regiment  at  the  opening 
of  the  campaign  against  Atlanta,  in  the  spring  of  1864.  During  the  fighting  before 
Resacca,  Georgia,  on  the  14th  and  loth  of  May,  this  regiment  behaved  with  great 
gallantry.  Again,  at  New  Hope,  Georgia,  on  the  2-5th  of  the  same  month,  Colonel 
Salomon  led  his  command  with  admirable  coolness  and  courage  against  the  enemy.  After 
having  advanced  under  a  severe  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery  more  than  a  mile,  he  held 
his  line  close  to  the  intrenched  position  of  the  enemy  without  a  breastwork,  and  with  a 
scanty  supply  of  ammunition. 

"  At  the  battle  near  Peach  Tree  Creek,  before  Atlanta,  Georgia,  on  the  20th  of  July, 
1864,  Colonel  Salomon  performed  a  most  gallant  and  meritorious  part  in  repulsing  the 
repeated  onslaughts  made  by  the  enemy.  In  the  face  of  a  furious,  raking  fire,  he  held 
his  line  for  four  hours,  and  finally  compelled  the  enemy  to  withdraw  from  his  front  with 
great  loss.  During  the  siege  ol  Atlanta,  Colonel  Salomon  was  ever  prominent  for  his 
energy,  coolness  and  judgment. 

"In  the  fight  near  Averysboro',  N.  C,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1865,  Colonel  Salomon, 
as  usual,  led  his  regiment  into  action  with  great  gallantry  and  skill.  At  the  battle  near 
Bentonsville,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1865,  Colonel  Salomon  and  his  command  drew  the 
unqualified  admiration  of  all  who  witnessed  their  coolness  and  discipline  under  fire,  and 
their  efi"ectual  services  in  repulsing  several  determined  attacks  of  the  enemy. 

"Colonel  Salomon  has  distinguished  himself  in  other  engagements  besides  those 
which  have  been  mentioned.  At  Gettysburg  and  Mission  Ridge,  his  gallantry  was 
conspicuous  and  challenged  the  highest  admiration. 

"  I  consider  Colonel  Salomon  one  of  the  most  deserving  ofiBcers  of  my  acquaintance. 
His  regiment  is  his  highest  praise.  In  point  of  drill  and  discipline,  it  is  second  to  none 
in  this  Corps.  Its  record  will  bear  safe  comparison  with  any  other  of  the  same  age  in 
the  army.  Colonel  Salomon  has  had  a  commission  as  Colonel  since  April,  1864,  but  his 
regiment  not  containing  the  requisite  number  of  men,  he  has  been  unable  to  get  mustered. 

"Earnestly  hoping  that  his  claims  will  meet  your  favorable  attention, 

"  I  remain.  Sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  (Signed)  J.  S.  Robinson, 

"Brigadier-General  U.  8.  V.;  Cora.  3d  Brig.,  let  Div.,  20th  A.  C." 


EDWARD  S.   SALOMON.  395 

Two  months  later  came  the  prize  which  he  had  so  uobly  earned  by  his 
services  in  the  field : 

"War  Dkpartment,   Washinoton,  June  15,  1865. 

"Sir:  You  are  hereby  informed  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  has 
appointed  you,  for  distinguished  gallantry  and  meritorious  services  during  the  war,  a 
Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers,  by  brevet,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  to  rank 
as  such  from  the  thirteenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five. 
Should  the  Senate,  at  their  next  session,  advise  and  consent  thereto,  you  will  be 
commissioned  accordingly. 

"Immediately  on  receipt  hereof,  please  communicate  to  this  Department,  through 

the  Adjutant-General  of  the  army,  your  acceptance  or  non-acceptance,  and,  with  your 

letter  of  acceptance  return  the  oath  herewith  inclosed,  properly  filled  up,  subscribed  and 

attested,  and  report  your  age,  birthplace,  and  the  State  of  which  you  were  a  permanent 

resident. 

"Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

"  Brevet  Brigadier-General  Edward  S.  Salomon,  U.  S.  V." 

The  war  was  now  over.  The  regiment  went  to  Washington,  partici- 
pated in  the  grand  review,  was  ordered  liome  June  17, 1865,  and  received 
a  welcome  and  ovation  at  Chicago  befitting  the  service  they  had  rendered 
the  country. 

In  the  fall  of  1865,  General  Salomon  was  nominated  by  the  Republi- 
can party  for  the  office  of  County  Clerk  of  Cook  County,  and  was  elected 
by  nearly  5,000  majority.     Tliis  office  he  still  holds. 

General  Salomon's  personal  appearance  is  so  well  known  here  that  it 
is  hardly  necessary  to  sketch  it.  His  abilities  and  valor  as  a  soldier  have 
been  tried  in  the  furnace  of  war,  and  he  has  not  been  found  wanting.  As 
a  civilian,  he  commands  the  esteem  and  resnect  of  the  entire  community. 


BERNHARD  FELSENTHAL. 


AVhein  the  last  census  of  Chicago  was  taken,  in  1860,  some  three 
hundred  families  were  found  to  be  of  Hebrew  descent.  Besides  business 
men  of  pre-eminence  in  their  respective  callings,  this  class  of  our  citizens 
can  boast  a  scholar  and  philosopher  who  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  the 
wise  men  of  our  generation.  The  race  w^hieh,  among  the  great  men  of 
modern  times,  can  boast  a  Mendelssohn,  Meyerbeer,  Offenbach,  Montifiore, 
Jacobi,  Fould,  and  others,  can  point,  here  in  Chicago,  to  Bernhard 
Fel^enthal,  Ph.  D.,  a  most  erudite  Jewish  Rabbi. 

Mr.  Felsenthal  was  born  January  2,  1822,  in  Muenchweiler,  near 
Kaiserslautern,  in  the  Palatinate.  Having  learned  all  that  was  taught  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  village,  he  repaired  at  an  early  age  to  Kaisers- 
lautern. After  finishing  what  Ave  would  call  his  academic  course,  he  went 
to  Munich,  famous  throughout  Europe,  and  not  unknown  in  America,  as 
a  seat  of  learning.  There  he  continued  his  studies  for  several  yciirs, 
enjoying  the  instruction  of  great  masters  and  the  fellowship  of  many  of 
the  best  youth  of  the  continent. 

It  had  been  the  intention  of  his  father  that  Bernhard  should  enter  the 
service  of  the  State,  but,  on  account  of  his  being  an  Israelite,  he  was 
debarred  from  all  political  rights,  and  thus  comi^elled  to  forego  entirely 
his  cherished  life-purpose.  Young  Felsenthal  had  now  arrived  at  the  age 
of  twenty;  his  education  was  complete,  but  not  at  all  professional.  To  a 
young  man  thus  familiar  with  the  lore  of  the  schools,  shut  out  from 
following  the  natural  bent  of  iiis  inclination,  and  too  independent  to  be 
longer  a  tax  upon  his  father,  nothing  better  oll'ered  itself  than  a  situation 
as  teacher.  Accordingly  we  find  the  j)uj)il  transformed  into  an  instructor. 
He  long  labored  faithfully  and  successfully  in  this  capacity,  winning  the 


398  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

perpetual  friendship  and  grateful  remembrance  of  his  scholars  and  their 
parents. 

While  thus  occupied  as  a  teacher  of  youth,  in  a  quiet  German  village, 
Mr.  Felsenthal  continued,  in  his  leisure  hours,  to  prosecute  his  favorite 
studies.  He  devoted  especial  attention  to  oriental  languages  and  literature. 
Not  content  with  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  Hebrew,  supposed  by  many 
of  our  best  linguists  to  be  the  parent  of  them  all,  he  wrought  long  and 
arduously  in  the  mine  of  Sanscrit,  and  explored  the  mysteries  of  its  wealth 
of  knowledge,  deeply  buried  from  common  eyes.  Always  an  indefatigable 
student,  his  exclusion  from  the  political  world  liad  the  effect  of  making 
him  a  bookworm.  The  seeds  of  knowledge  thus  sown  in  Germany  were 
destined  to  bring  forth  a  rich  harvest  under  the  fructifying  sun  of 
America. 

In  the  summer  of  1854,  Dr.  Felsenthal  left  Fatherland  for  the  United 
States.  Like  the  Father  of  the  faithful,  he  sought  "a  better  country," 
and,  like  his  great  ancestor,  he  was  not  disappointed.  Having  friends 
near  of  kin  in  Indiana,  he  directed  his  steps  thitherward.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  Hoosier  State  to  give  adequate  scope  to  such  a  man  as 
Dr.  Felsenthal,  and,  in  1858,  he  came  to  Chicago,  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land.  Here  he  found  employment,  not  very  congenial,  still  acceptable, 
in  the  bank  of  Greenebaum  Brothers.  With  them  he  remained  for  three 
years.  The  clerical  duties  of  his  position  were  not  adapted  to  his  nature 
and  education;  but  food  is  necessary,  clothing  convenient,  and  the  future 
rabbi  and  learned  doctor  of  the  Mosaic  law  labored  on  faithfully  and 
cheerily.  His  evenings  and  leisure  days  were  spent  now,  as  when  a 
teacher,  in  the  society  of  the  wise  of  other  times,  as  their  wisdom  has  been 
treasured  up  in  literature.  Not  only  so,  but,  while  eagerly  storing  away 
knowledge,  he  became,  in  a  modest  way,  the  generator  of  new  thoughts. 
He  wrote  for  various  learned  periodicals.  Being  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  faith  of  his  fathers,  "an  Israelite  indeed,"  he  chose  Jewish  subjects, 
and  became  widely  and  favorably  known  among  his  own  people. 

Not  long  after  Dr.  Felsenthal  came  to  Chicago,  a  number  of  liberal 
and  enthusiastic  Israelites  formed  a  religious  society,  under  the  name  of 
"  Juedischer  Reformverein"  (Reform  Association),  its  object  being  indicated 
by  its  name.  Dr.  Felsenthal  was  chosen  Secretary,  and,  although  of  a 
retiring  disposition,  he  soon  became  the  acknowledged  soul  and  leader  of 
the  movement.  This  organization  proved  to  be  of  vital  importance  in 
the  development  in  Chicago,  and  throughout  the  Northwest,  of  liberal  or 


b 


BERNHARD   FELSENTHAL.  399 

modernized  Judaism.  Durinn;  the  year  1859,  our  karned  Doetor  published 
a  book  entitled  ^'Kol  Kore  Bamidbar,  Ueber  JuedLsche  Reform.''  This 
work,  small  but  mighty,  received  most  favorable  criticism  from  some  of 
the  most  illustrious  Jewish  scholars  of  tiie  times.  They  all  united  in 
paying  to  the  modest,  and  then  obscure,  author  high  encomiums  for 
soundness  of  views,  profound  research,  and  an  earnest  spirit  underlying 
and  pervading  the  entire  work.  This,  together  with  the  society  already 
mentioned,  secured,  in  due  time,  such  a  foothold  lor  liberal  Judaism  that 
a  Reform  Synagogue,  the  Sinai,  \vith  its  edifice  on  Monroe  street,  and  now 
on  the  corner  of  Van  Buren  street  and  Third  avenue,  was  organized  in 
1861,  of  which  Dr.  Felsenthal  became  the  Rabbi.  At  its  organization, 
this  modern  Mt.  Slnni  was,  like  Solomon's  conies,  '*a  feeble  folk,"  but 
under  the  Rabbi's  wise  guidance  it  soon  became  of  great  influence  in 
Jewish  circles,  strong  in  all  that  makes  a  religious  organization  truly 
prosperous.  The  official  connection  of  the  Doctor  with  this  society 
continued  three  years,  when  he  received  and  accepted  a  call  from  the  Zion 
Church,  located  on  Desplaines  street,  near  Washington  street,  to  become 
its  pastor,  which  position  he  still  occupies. 

Notw^ithstanding  the  pressure  of  parochial  duties,  Rabbi  Felsenthal 
never  ceased  from  his  literary  labors.  Besides  several  sermons,  he  has 
published  a  treatise  entitled  "Juedisches  Schuhoesen  in  Amerika''  (Jewish 
Schools  in  America),  and  other  pamphlets,  which  found  great  fiivor  with 
the  press  and  the  Rabbis  of  his  people.  But  a  greater  literary  work  of 
Dr.  Felsenthal  is  now  (October,  1867,)  in  process  of  completion,  and  will 
soon  be  published.  Every  student  of  the  Bible  in  the  original  Hebrew 
knows  that  a  really  good  Hebrew  grammar  is  a  text-book  greatly  to  be 
desired.  Gesenius,  Stuart,  Greene,  Conant  and  others  have  done  much 
towards  furnishing  a  key  for  the  unlocking  of  the  priceless  treasures 
bequeathed  us  by  the  holy  men  of  old,  who  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  their  labors  were  incomplete.  Dr.  Felsenthal  is 
preparing  a  grammar  that  will,  it  is  hoped,  meet  the  demand.  Competent 
judges  who  have  examined  such  parts  of  the  learned  Rabbi's  work  as  he 
has  already  finished,  are  confident  that  most  important  service  is  to  be 
rendered  by  it  to  the  student  of  Hebrew. 

The  ability  and  erudition  of  Dr.  Felsenthal  have  been  honorably 
acknowledged  by  various  societies  and  institutions.  The  Historical 
Society  of  Chicago,  in  the  year  1863,  elected  him  a  corresponding  member, 
and  the  Chicago  University  recently  gave  him  the  title  of  Philosophice 


400  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

Doctor,  an   honor   never   before  bestowed   on  a  Hebrew  divine   by  an 
American  college. 

Rabbi  Felsenthal  has  learned  in  the  school  of  experience  the  truth  of 
the  poet's  verse — 

"Shadow  and  shine  is  life,  flower  and  thorn." 

On  the  2d  of  March,  1862,  he  was  married  to  Caroline  Levi,  a  lovely- 
German  lady,  who  was  taken  away  by  the  angel  of  death  December  16, 
1863.  His  little  daughter,  Ida,  followed  her  mother  about  two  years 
later.  He  contracted  a  second  marriage,  with  Miss  Henrietta  Blumenfeld, 
July  2,  1865. 

The  narrative  wliich  is  now  closed  indicates,  \vith  a  good  degree  of 
fullness,  the  character  of  Dr.  Felsenthal,  the  companion  of  books,  yet 
eminently  practical  in  his  work.  To  him  learning  is  not  an  end  unto 
itself,  but  good  only  as  a  lever  with  which  to  move  the  world.  As  the 
subtle  atmosphere  of  the  "Leviathan,"  or  "Critique  of  Pure  Reason,"  has 
enveloped  and  influenced  myriads  who  never  heard  of  Hobbes  or  Kant, 
so  other  men  of  books  and  ideas  are  eminently  practical  in  their  labors. 
That  which  seems  the  speculative  pastime  of  the  schools  generates  new 
thoughts,  purposes  and  plans  that  determine  religious,  ethical  and 
material  progress.  This  truth  has  ample  illustration  in  every  chapter  of 
the  world's  history,  but  in  none  more  truly,  if  more  conspicuously,  than 
in  the  actual  results  wrought  out,  and  still  being  wrought  out,  by 
Bernhard  Felsenthal,  Ph.  D. 


SAMUEL  HOARD. 


Among  the  early  settlers  of  Chicago,  who  have  contributed  to  its 
prosperity  and  earned  an  honoral^le  fame,  stands  prominent  the  well-known 
citizen  whose  portrait  adorns  this  sketch.  His  English  ancestors  were, 
many  of  them,  persons  of  rank  and  fortune.  Pie  was  born  at  West- 
minster, Worcester  County,  Massachusetts,  INIay  20,  1800.  At  the  age  of 
six  he  was  deprived  of  parental  care,  and  committed  to  relatives,  who  gave 
him  a  common  school  and  academical  education,  and  designed  to  prepare 
him  for  a  profession.  His  independent  .sj)irit  led  him  to  cast  himself  on 
his  own  resources,  and  after  studying  law  until  he  became  convinced  that  he 
had  not  the  natural  characteristics  that  would  give  success  at  the  bar,  he 
devoted  his  time  to  mercantile  pursuits,  first  as  clerk  and  then  as  partner, 
and,  being  unsuccessful,  he  entered  into  politics,  was  elected  a  magibtrate, 
and  afterwards  appointed  Judge  of  the  County  Court  of  Franklin  County, 
New  York.  At  this  period,  in  1827,  he  was  married  to  Sophronia  Conant, 
daughter  of  John  Conant,  Esq.,  of  Brandon,  Vermont,  and  sister  of  that 
eminent  scholar,  Rev.  T.  J.  Conant,  D.  D,,  of  New  York;  and  with  her  he 
has  lived  happily  as  a  true,  affectionate,  devoted  and  self-sacrificing  wife, 
who  has  not  only  made  home  attractive,  but  deeply  sympathized  with  him 
in  his  struggles,  enterprises,  tastes  and  pursuits.  In  1828,  he,  in  connection 
M'ith  James  Long,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  established  the  "Franklin  Repub- 
lican;" and  in  1833  he  assumed  editorial  charge  of  the  late  Preston  King's 
paper,  the  "St.  Lawrence  Republican,"  and  became  associated  with  Silas 
Wright,  Jr.,  whom  he  well  nigh  idolized  as  one  of  the  purest  and  j)ro- 
foundest  statesmen  of  America. 

Becoming  infected  with  the  Western  fever,  he  migrated  to  Illinois,  and 
commenced  life  in  Cook  County  upon  a  prairie  farm.     In  that  early  day 


402  BIOGRAPHICAL,  SKETCHES. 

the  farmer  paid  great  prices  for  oxen  and  seed,  and  obtained  small  prices 
for  beef  and  grain,  so  that  the  prospects  of  sudden  wealth  vanished,  or 
were  dashed  with  disappointment.  One  of  Mr.  Hoard's  neighbors  spent 
two  days  in  marketing  a  load  of  potatoes,  and  then,  not  finding  a  purchaser 
who  would  offer  more  than  ten  cents  a  bushel,  he  drove  to  the  wharf, 
dumped  his  load  into  the  stream,  and  vowed  that  he  would  never  bring 
another  potato  to  that  market.  Tempora  mutantur !  In  1840,  he  was 
appointed  to  take  the  State  census  for  the  County  of  Cook.  Chicago  was 
then  ambitious  to  be  considered  a  large  town.  But  neither  he  nor  Sheriff 
Sherman,  who  took  the  United  States  census,  could  find  five  thousand 
persons  in  the  infant  city.  In  1842,  he  was  elected  State  Senator,  and 
served  in  the  sessions  of  1842-3.  Being  soon  after  appointed  Clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court,  he  removed  to  the  city,  and  engaged  in  public  affairs 
and  the  real  estate  business  until  1845,  when  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
J.  T.  Edwards  in  a  jewelry  house,  where  he  continued  until  the  first  year 
of  the  war.  The  love  of  country  burned  in  his  bosom,  and  he  threw  his 
whole  soul  into  the  work  of  saving  the  nation  from  dismemberment  and 
overthrow.  He  was  an  indefatigable  member  of  the  Union  Defense  Com- 
mittee, and  gave  one  year's  gratuitous  service,  as  Secretary,  to  the  patriotic 
labors  in  which  they  were  absorbed.  He  was  appointed,  by  President 
Lincoln,  Postmaster  of  Chicago,  and  retained  his  position,  filling  it  Avith 
eminent  success,  until  Mr.  Johnson's  general  proscription  cut  him  off,  with 
so  many  others,  from  the  public  service.  His  last  official  position  has 
been  in  connection  with  the  Board  of  Health,  where  he  has  rendered  the 
public  invaluable  benefits  in  warding  off"  the  scourge  of  cholera,  the 
attack  of  which  was  universally  dreaded.  He  has  passed  through  an 
eventful  experience,  and  in  his  old  age  has  ample  means,  abundant  honors, 
and  hosts  of  friends.  In  personal  appearance  large  and  well-formed,  with  a 
broad  and  high  forehead,  and  a  dignified,  yet  graceful  carriage,  Mr.  Hoard 
would  be  a  noticeable  gentleman  in  any  company,  and  command  instant 
respect.  In  society  he  is  affable  and  courteous  to  all  classes,  and  diffuses 
an  agreeable  atmosphere  and  influence  wherever  he  mingles.  He  exhil)its 
the  effect  of  his  association  with  men  of  talent  and  varied  culture. 

Through  his  countenance  and  address  shines  also  his  kind  and 
unselfish  nature.  He  is  a  man  who  possesses  a  warm,  generous  soul,  that 
throbs  in  sympathy  with  human  experiences,  and  opens  his  ear  and  his 
hand  to  every  call  for  attention  and  succor.  Eternity  only  will  reveal  the 
instances  of  personal  kindness,  the  timely  gifts,  the  encouraging  M-ords, 


SAMUEL   HOARD.  403 

the  helpful  visits,  tiie  cordial  greeting,  MJiich    have  made   iiini   holovccl 
aud  honored. 

These  amiable  traits  of  his  character  are  associated  with  th(>  (|nalities 
of  a  strong,  manly  nature.  His  energy  and  industry  have  accompanied 
him  to  this  period  of  his  life.  In  the  management  of  the  Post  Offi(;e 
of  Chicago,  he  assumed  the  brunt  of  labor,  and  toiled  at  his  duties  with 
untiring  assiduity  and  perseverance.  He  has  always  been  iiicd  with 
ambition  to  discharge  witli  thoroughness  and  fidelity  the  office  he  lield, 
and  to  excel  in  every  calling  he  followed.  Yet  his  modesty,  integrity  and 
honor  placed  him  above  the  use  of  any  unwarrantable  means  of  advance- 
ment. At  a  convention  to  nominate  members  for  the  Legislature  from 
the  counties  of  Lake  and  Cook,  Mr.  Hoard  presided.  AVilliam  B.  Ogden, 
Ebenezer  Peck  and  others  were  candidates.  After  ballotino;  without 
result,  ISIr.  Ogden's  friends  changed  their  votes  to  Mr.  Hoard,  and 
produced  a  tie  between  him  and  Mr.  Peck,  whereupon  the  former  gave 
the  casting  vote  for  his  opponent,  greatly  to  the  annoyance  of  his  friends, 
but  in  perfect  keeping  with  his  unassuming  and  honorable  character. 
His  word  has  ever  been  as  good  as  his  bond. 

He  has  been  eminent  for  public  spirit,  and  enthusiastic  in  his 
l)elief  in  the  future  of  his  adopted  city.  His  interest  in  the  cause  of 
education  was  such  that  he  early  became  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  and  was  for  years  its  President,  and  only  resigned  to  engage 
in  business  with  his  brother  in  Watertown.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
corporators  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  has  served  on  its  Board 
of  Trustees  and  Executive  Committee  from  its  establishment.  According 
to  his  ability,  he  has  contributed  as  liberally  as  any  man  connected 
with  it.  He  has  always  been  sanguine  of  its  ultimate  success  as  an 
educator  of  the  men  whose  influence  will  be  felt  in  the  destinies  of 
tliis  great  Kepublic.  He  is  a  lover  of  his  race,  and  considers  their 
welfare  the  chief  object  of  his  life.  No  man  is  more  careful  of  the 
feelings  and  reputation  of  others.  He  is  unsuspicious,  guileless  and 
forgiving  to  a  fault.  Abundant  wrongs  and  betrayals  of  confidence 
suffered  by  him,  from  persons  towards  whom  he  has  acted  as  a  l)enefac'tor, 
have  not  soured  him,  nor  dampened  his  ardor  to  do  good  to  his  fellow- 
men.  He  is,  in  harmony  with  his  simplicity  of  character,  a  great  friend 
of  the  young.  Having  no  children  of  his  own,  he  has  donated  himself 
to  the  good  of  others'  oflspring.  He  was  fifteen  years  in  chai-gc  of  the 
infant  class  in  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and   there  exerted  a  happy 


404  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

influence  over  hundreds  who  are  now  growing  up  to  usefulness  and  honor. 
He  has  aided  young  men  in  commencing  business,  given  them  valuable 
counsel,  which  has  often  saved  them  from  vice  and  ruin,  and  watched  over 
their  prosperity  with  a  father's  solicitude.  He  now  conducts  a  large  class 
in  the  Sabbath  school,  and  a  prayer  meeting  for  boys  in  the  Second 
Baptist  Church,  of  wliicli  he  is  senior  deacon,  and  the  walls  of  whose 
lecture-room  testify  to  his  liberality  in  three  beautiful  Scriptural  paintings 
that  adorn  them.  Many  will  rise  up  and  call  him  blessed  as  the  friend  of 
the  young,  for  whose  welfare,  both  present  and  eternal,  he  has  ceaselessly 
labored. 

His  religious  life  began  in  early  manhood.  When  young  and  hand- 
some, courted  and  petted  by  all,  he  was  moral  and  church-going.  A 
sickness  that  almost  brought  him  down  to  the  grave,  made  him  feel  the 
importance  of  religion,  and  he  rose  from  his  bed  to  live  for  God.  He 
has  ever  been  a  devoted  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  without  bigotry 
or  fanaticism,  and  consecrated  himself  to  its  prosperity.  In  an  early  day, 
when  money  was  needed,  he  mortgaged  his  property  to  aid  in  building  a 
house  of  worship  in  this  city.  Plis  pastors  have  found  in  him  a  consci- 
entious, earnest  supporter  in  every  thing  which  his  honest  judgment 
approved,  and  a  faithful  friend  under  all  circumstances.  His  voice  is 
always  heard  Avith  pleasure  in  the  social  meetings,  whether  he  engages  in 
prayer,  reads  the  Scriptures  (in  which  he  excels,)  or  offers  exhortations. 
To  the  maturity  of  his  life  religion  adds  a  mellowness  and  sweetness  that 
make  him  beloved  and  cherished  in  the  church.  He  has  been  a  foremost 
laborer  iu  the  Second  Baptist  Church  since  its  re-organization,  and  sets  an 
example  for  those  whose  years  would  seem  to  furnish  exemption  from 
personal  effort.  But  labor  is  his  life,  and  he  desires  only  to  find  a  fitting 
sphere,  and  there  he  devotes  himself  with  unsparing  earnestness  for  the 
great  Captain  of  our  salvation. 

This  sketch  may  serve  to  set  before  young  men  a  model  not  too 
difficult,  and  yet  beautiful  and  satisfactory  to  the  ambition  of  most.  A 
busy  life,  full  of  vicissitude,  yet  governed  by  principle,  and  gradually 
lifting  itself  higher  into  sunshine  and  nearer  to  Heaven,  while  the  young 
play  and  the  sorrowful  rest  under  its  shade,  and  the  poor  eat  of  its  fruit, 
and  society  is  enriched  by  its  products,  is  an  object  of  unfailing  interest 
and  admiration.  We  may  express  the  hope  that  no  storm  may  uproot  it 
suddenly,  nor  mar  its  branching  beauty — that  the  autumn  may  be  long  in 
deepening  to  winter  upon  its  foliage  and  fruit.     We  know  that  they  that 


I 


SAJrUEL   HOARD.  405 

arc  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  Ihiurish  in  ilic  (-((urts  of  our 
God,  and  the  good  seed  of  his  life  already  germinates  and  fruetifies,  I'or  a 
good  man  lives  often  a  nobler  life  in  the  persons  whom  he  has  imi)regnated 
Avith  his  pure  and  excellent  spirit.  When  Samuel  Hoard  dies,  Ciiicafio 
will  lose  a  benefactor,  the  church  a  pillar,  and  the  country  a  patriotic 
citizen. 


ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD. 


No  NAME  is  more  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  Chicago  than  that  of 
Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  a  leaijiing  member  of  the  Bar,  an  able  speaker 
and  Avriter,  -who  has  represented  the  city  in  the  State  Legislature  and  in 
the  National  Congress,  who  Avas  the  warm  personal  friend  of  President 
Lincoln,  the  chief  supporter  in  Congress  of  his  Administration,  the  most 
active  and  enthusiastic  of  the  public  men  of  that  time  who  advocated  the 
nomination  and  re-election  of  that  good  and  great  man  for  a  second  Presi- 
dential term,  an  uncompromising  foe  to  slavery,  and  who  has  recently 
achieved  new  laurels  as  the  author  of  a  valuable  and  ably  Avrittcn  histoiy 
of  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  downfall  of  slavery, 

Mr.  Arnold  has  been  a  resident  of  Chicago  for  thirty-one  years,  and 
has  been  more  or  less  active  in  its  affairs  ever  since  his  arrival  here  in 
1836.  He  was  born  in  Hartwick,  Otsego  County,  New  York,  November 
30,  1815,  and  is  therefore  now  fifty-two  years  of  age.  His  parents,  Dr. 
George  W.  and  Sophia  M.  Arnold,  were  natives  of  Rhode  Island,  whence 
they  emigrated  to  New  York  in  about  the  year  1800.  In  his  earlier 
years,  he  had  such  advantages  for  education  as  the  district  and  select 
schools  of  the  county  and  the  academy  of  the  village  affonlcd,  advant:ii:(s 
which,  though  imperfect,  as  compared  with  the  schools  of  the  present  day, 
he  improved  to  such  an  extent  as  to  give  him  a  very  fair  education  for 
the  duties  of  practical  life. 

Tiirown  upon  his  own  personal  resources  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  lie 
never  knew  much  about  the  usual  pleasures  of  boyhood,  but  found  him- 
self face  to  face  with  tlie  stern  realities  of  life.  Tlie  very  struggles  v.  hich 
in  early  life  his  self-dependent  ciicumstances  obliged  him  to  inidergo, 
served  to  develop  those  intellectual  and  moral  characteristics  which  in 
after  life  made  him  a  man  of  influence  and  mark  anion";  his  fellow-men. 


408  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

From  the  seventeeutli  year  of  his  age  until  he  was  about  twenty,  he 
divided  his  time  between  academical  studies,  teaching,  and  reading  law. 
He  earned  money  enough  by  teaching  a  part  of  the  year  to  enable  him  to 
pursue  his  studies  the  remainder  of  the  year.  The  first  law-office  he 
entered  as  a  student  was  that  of  Richard  Cooper,  in  Cooperstown,  N.  Y., 
a  nephew  of  the  celebrated  author,  James  Fenimore  Cooper.  He  subse- 
quently became  a  student  of  Judge  E.  B.  Morehouse.  Applying  himself 
very  assiduously,  he  soon  acquired  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  law  business 
to  make  his  services  in  the  office  availal)le  towards  paying  his  personal 
expenses,  by  trying  causes  before  the  Justice's  Court,  and  by  otherwise 
earning  an  occasional  fee.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  of  New  York  in  1835,  being  then  but  twenty  years  of  age.  He 
immediately  entered  into  copartnership  with  Judge  Morehouse,  his  old 
friend  and  law  teacher,  with  whom  he  remained  until  he  left  for  the  West. 

The  first  important  trial  in  which  Mr.  Arnold  was  engaged  was  that 
of  a  negro  named  Dacit,  in  Otsego  County,  who  was  on  trial  on  a  charge 
of  having  murdered  liis  brotlicr  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  the  t^\o  having  l)een 
rivals  for  the  affections  of  the  same  woman.  Mr.  Arnold,  being  satisfied 
of  his  innocence,  volunteered  to  defend  the  prisoner,  and  procured  his 
acquittal.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  was  the  beginning  of  an 
extensive  criminal  practice,  during  which  no  man  charged  with  a  capital 
offense  who  was  defended  by  him  was  ever  convicted. 

When  Mr.  Arnold  first  arrived  in  Chicago,  in  1836,  having  only  a  few 
himdred  dollars  in  his  pocket,  which  comprised  all  he  had,  except  a  few 
law  books,  he  at  once  opened  a  law  office.  Chicago  was  a  mere  village  at 
that  time.  A  few  months  afterwards,  he  entered  into  })artnership  with 
Mahlon  D.  Ogden,  Esq.,  and  when,  the  succeeding  year,  Chicago  had 
been  incorporated  as  a  city,  and  William  B.  Ogden  was  elected  its  first 
Mayor,  Mr.  Arnold  was  elected  City  Clerk.  Cliicago  tlien  had  about 
3,000  inhabitants.  His  professional  business  rapidly  increasing,  he 
resigned  his  City  Clerkship  before  the  end  of  the  year,  and  confined 
himself  to  the  practice  of  the  law.  The  State  of  Illinois  was  as  yet 
but  thinly  settled  and  little  improved,  even  in  this  now  teeming  and 
prosperous  section  of  it,  ]\Ir.  Arnold  loves  to  relate  to  his  friends  the 
incidents  of  his  early  experiences,  his  long  and  perilous  journeys,  a-foot 
and  on  horseback,  over  the  wild  and  almost  boundless  prairies,  his 
escapes  from  wolves  and  Indians,  and  his  getting  lost  in  storms  when 
out  on  the  prairie  sea.     Those  were  times  that  tried  even  lawyers'  souls. 


ISAAC   N.   ARN'OLD.  409 

Not  until  1842  did  ^Nlr.  Arnold  t..ko  a  very- active  or  prominent  part 
in  the  general  politics  ol'  the  State.  In  that  year  tlie  (piestion  of  fStatc 
finances  was  the  exciting  one.  The  iState  waa  deeply  in  debt,  in  conse- 
quence of  having  entered  rather  extensively  upon  a  system  of  public 
Avork?^,  chief  among  which  was  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  and 
]\Iichigan  Canal,  which  was  only  partly  finished,  and  as  yet  unproductive 
of  2)ublic  revenue.  A  disposition  Mas  manifested  in  some  quarters  to 
repudiate  the  State  indebtedness.  In  common  with  others  who  deprecated 
so  questionable  a  step,  and  who  were  at  the  same  time  anxious  for  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  i)ublic  works,  Mr.  Arnold  took  a  bold  jiosition 
against  repudiation.  As  a  delegate  in  the  Democratic  State  Convention, 
in  1842,  he  sought  to  commit  that  party  to  his  views.  In  the  autumn 
of  that  year,  he  delivered  an  address  in  Chicago,  which  was  published  at 
the  time,  on  "the  legal  and  moral  obligations  of  the  State  to  pay  its 
debts,  the  resources  of  Illinois,  and  the  means  by  which  the  credit  of  the 
State  may  be  restored."  As  the  recognized  champion  of  anti-repudiation, 
he  Avas  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  in  the  session  of  1842-3,  made  the 
"canal  bill"  a  specialt}^,  embodying  in  it  the  scheme  advocated  in  his 
Chicago  address.  As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  he  made 
an  elaborate  report,  setting  forth  the  then  financial  condition  and  resources 
of  the  State.  He  strongly  advocated  taxation  and  the  payment  of  the 
indebtedness.  Mr.  Arnold's  scheme,  which  was  originally  devised  in  a 
conference  with  Arthur  Bronson,  W.  B.  Ogdcn  and  others,  was  adopted, 
which  proposed  to  pledge  the  canal  and  its  lands  to  the  holders  of  the 
State  canal  bonds  in  order  to  raise  the  necessary  funds,  and  under  it 
the  present  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  was  finally  completed. 

At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1842-3,  Mr.  Arnold  vigorously 
opposed  the  enactment  of  laws  providing  that  no  property  should  be  sold 
upon  execution  or  judicial  process,  until  it  had  been  appraised,  nor  unless 
it  should  sell  for  two-thirds  of  its  ap[>raised  value.  So  mcII  satisfied  was 
he  of  their  unconstitutionality  that,  after  being  passed  by  the  Legislature, 
he  carried  the  question  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  sub- 
mitting elaborate  arguments  in  the  cases  of  Arthur  Bronson  vs.  John  IT. 
Kinzie,  and  McCracken  vs.  Ilayward — whereupon  the  Court  declared 
them  unconstitutional  and  void. 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  Mr.  Arnold,  at  this  period  of  his 
history,  was  a  Democrat.  He  was  in  fiivor  of  the  nomination  of  Van 
Bureu  for  President  in  1844,  and,  although  he  was  nominated  as  one  o' 


410  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  Electors  by  the  State  Convention,  he  supported  the  nominees,  Polk 
and  Dallas,  for  President  and  Vice  President,  with  great  reluctance.  In 
1848,  he  entered  with  great  earnestness  into  the  ''Buffalo  Platform"  Free 
Soil  movement,  being  a  delegate  to  the  Buffido  Convention,  and  helping 
to  organize  that  new  party.  He,  and  such  men  as  W.  B.  Ogden,  Thomas 
Iloyne,  Daniel  Brainard,  and  George  Manierre,  called  a  Free  Soil  State 
Convention  at  Ottawa,  nominated  a  Van  Buren  and  Adams  electoral 
ticket,  and  opened  the  first  formidable  anti-slavery  campaign  in  Illinois. 
:Mr.  Arnold  took  the  stump  with  great  ardor,  and  Cook  county  was  carried 
for  this  ticket,  the  vote  standing:  for  Van  Buren,  2,120;  for  Cass,  1,622; 
for  Taylor,  1,708.  This  was  the  starting  point  of  that  grand  moral 
revolution  in  American  politics  Avhich  made  Lincoln  President  in  1860, 
and  finally  abolished  slavery  forever  on  the  American  continent. 

From  1848  to  1858,  ISIr.  Arnold,  although  taking  an  active  part  on 
the  anti-slavery  side  of  politics  in  every  campaign,  State  or  national, 
devoted  himself  closely  to  his  profession,  being  engaged  on  many  impor- 
tant criminal  and  civil  cases,  and  rapidly  achieving  a  leading  place 
among  the  great  and  most  successful  lawyers  of  the  West.  Among  the 
most  note-worthy  causes  in  Avhich  he  appeared  as  counsel,  was  that  of 
Tavlor  Driscoll,  charged  with  the  murder  of  John  Campbell,  the  leader  of 
a  band  of  "Regulators"  in  Ogle  County.  This  was  in  1839;  the  trial  was 
an  exciting  one;  and  Mr.  Arnold  secured  the  prisoner's  acquittal.  Another 
was  that  of  Henry  Bridenbecker,  charged  with  the  murder  of  Selma 
Keyser,  in  McHenry  County.  He  procured  a  change  of  venue  to  Cook 
County,  and,  on  the  plea  of  insaniry,  secure<l  the  acquittal  of  the  prisoner, 
who  died  soon  after  in  an  insane  asylum.  A  ]X)st-mortem  examination 
showed  that  his  death  was  caused  by  an  ulcer  of  the  brain.  As  attorney 
of  the  Canal  Board,  Mr.  Arnold  achieved  an  important  victory  as  a 
laAvj^er  in  several  cases  where  settlers  on  canal  lands  claimed  from  eighty 
to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acre  lots,  by  right  of  pre-emption.  He  con- 
tended that  the  pre-emption  extended  only  to  certain  city  lots.  The  cases 
were  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court.  James  H.  Collins,  John  ]M.  Wilson, 
N.  B.  Judd,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  appeared  for  the  claimants;  Mr. 
Arnold,  Robert  S.  Blackwell,  and  Norman  H.  Purple,  for  the  Canal 
Trustees.     Mr.  Arnold's  views  were  sustained  by  the  Court. 

In  1855,  Mr.  Arnold  was  again  elected  to  the  Legislature.  He  was 
the  Free  Soil  candidate  for  Speaker,  and  lacked  only  three  or  four  votes 
of  being  elected.     One  of  his  most  noteworthy  performances  during  the 


ISAAC   N.   ARNOLD.  411 

fce&sion  of  1855-6,  was  an  elaborate  aiul  elUrtive  argument  in  reply  to 
those  Avho  eontended  that  Gov.  Bissell,  who  had  just  been  inaugurated, 
was  constitutionally  ineligible  lor  Governor,  in  consequence  of  having 
accepted  a  challenge  to  mortal  cond)at  from  Jcflerson  Davis,  while  in 
Congress.  The  Constitution  of  the  State  provides  that  no  person  Avho  has 
given  or  accepted  such  a  challenge  shall  hold  any  ofhce  in  the  State,  Mr. 
Arnold  replied  successfully  to  a  severe  attack  upon  the  Governor  by  John 
A.  Logan,  arguing  that  the  cliallenge  having  been  accepted  outside  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  the  act  did  not  aifect  this  case. 

In  1858,  Mv.  Arnold  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  Congress 
before  the  Republican  Convention  of  the  then  second  district.  John  F. 
Farnsworth  was  nominated  over  him  by  a  small  majority,  but  Mr.  Arnold 
nevertheless  labored  zealously  for  the  ticket  during  the  canvass.  In 
1860,  he  secured  the  nomination  for  Congress  in  that  district,  over  Mr. 
Farnsworth.  On  the  26th  of  September,  in  that  year,  he  addressed  a 
great  multitude  of  people  in  the  Wigwam  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  for 
"Lincoln  and  Libert)'."  The  next  clay,  when  parting  from  Mr.  Lincoln, 
Avith  whom  he  had  for  years  been  personally  intimate,  Mr.  Arnold 
remarked,  "Good  by,  Mr.  Lincoln;  next  time  I  sec  you,  I  shall  congrat- 
ulate you  on  being  President  elect."  "And  I  you,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln, 
"  on  being  Congressman  elect ;"  whereupon  Mr.  Arnold  remarked,  "  Well, 
I  desire  to  go  to  Congress,  chiefly  that  I  may  aid  you  in  the  great  conflict 
with  slavery  that  is  before  you."  "I  know  not  what  lies  before  me,"  said 
Mr.  Lincoln;  "but  if  elected,  I  will  do  my  duty  as  God  shall  enable  nie 
to  see  it — and  if  a  conflict  comes,  'thrice  is  he  armed  who  hath  his  cpiarrel 
just.'"  Mr.  Arnold  was  elected,  receiving  14,663  votes,  being  seventy- 
six  more  than  were  given  the  Lincoln  and  Handin  Presidential  Electors. 

xVmong  the  very  first  of  the  Northern  men  who  arrived  at  A\  ashington 
the  latter  part  of  Fel)ruary,  1861,  just  ])revious  to  the  inauguration  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  as  President,  was  Mr.  Arnold.  The  National  Ca]iital  and 
the  country  at  large  were  intensely  excited  in  consequence  of  the  Southern 
secession  movement.  From  that  time  until  the  day  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  assas- 
sination, did  Mr.  Arnold  devote  all  his  time  and  energies  to  the  support 
of  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  the  eflbrts  of  the  President  to  preserve  the  im- 
perilled Republic.  Retiring  from  the  legal  proi'ession,  he  gave  himself  up 
to  his  })ublic  duties.  He  was  a  radical  I?e])ublican,  had  great  confidence  in 
Mr.  Lincoln,  and  believed  I'roin  the  beginning  that  he  \V(»uld  use  all  lli(> 
power  that  he  felt  himself  constitutionally  possessed  of  to  destroy  slavery. 


412  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

When  the  more  intense  radicals  became  dissatisfied  with  Mr.  Lincohi 
because  of  his  apparent  unwillingness  to  adopt  extreme  measures  against 
slavery  during  the  first  year  of  the  war,  Mr.  Arnold  and  his  colleague,  the 
late  Owen  Lovejoy,  did  much  to  neutralize  this  opposition,  by  expressing 
and  exhibiting  their  confidence  in  Mr.  Lincoln  as  an  anti-slavery  man. 

The  new  Congress,  of  which  Mr.  Arnold  was  a  member,  convened  in 
special  session  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861.  He  voted  for  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr., 
then  a  leading  Republican,  for  Speaker  of  the  House.  Hon.  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  had  died  in  the  preceding  month  of  June,  after  so  gloriously 
rallying  his  political  friends  in  the  North  and  West  to  the  support  of  the 
Government.  Mr.  Arnold  was  selected  by  the  Illinois  delegation  in 
Congress  to  express  the  concurrence  of  those  who  liad  formerly  differed 
with  him  politically,  in  the  honors  paid  to  the  illustrious  statesman's 
memory.  His  obituary  address,  made  in  compliance  with  the  request  of 
his  colleagues,  was  Mr.  Arnold's  first  speech  in  Congress. 

At  the  regular  session  of  Congress,  in  the  following  December,  Mr. 
Arnold  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  select  committee  on  the  defenses 
of  the  great  rivers  and  lakes;  and  in  February,  1862,  he  made  an  able 
and  elaborate  report,  showing  the  rapid  growth  and  vast  commercial  and 
military  importance  of  the  Western  lakes  and  rivers.  The  report  discussed 
the  best  means  for  their  protection,  and  strongly  recommended,  among 
other  tilings,  the  conversion  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  into  a 
channel  for  the  navigation  of  ships  and  steamboats.  Mr.  Arnold  prepared 
and  introduced  a  bill  to  this  effect,  and  earnestly  urged  its  passage.  In 
June,  1862,  he  made  a  very  effective  speech  in  support  of  the  measure. 
The  bill,  however,  did  not  reach  a  vote  until  the  following  session,  when 
it  was  lost  by  a  small  majority.  He  did  not  despair,  however,  but  in 
January,  1863,  again  made  a  speech  in  its  advocacy.  He  was  re-elected  a 
member  of  the  next  Congress,  and  Speaker  Colfax  appointed  him  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Roads  and  Canals.  He  reported  a  bill  frmn 
that  committee,  and  zealously  advocated  its  passage,  providing  for  an 
appropriation  by  Congress  of  $6,000,000,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the 
State  of  Illinois  to  enlarge  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  This  bill 
finally  came  to  a  vote  in  the  House  on  the  2d  of  February,  1865,  and  was 
passed.  But,  unfortunately,  it  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  Retiring  from 
Congressional  life  at  the  end  of  his  term,  this  great  "hobby"  of  his,  as  his 
opponents  called  it,  has  been  permitted  to  rest,  although  he  does  not 
despair  of  yet  seeing  it  carried  into  effect. 


ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD.  413 

Mr.  Arnold's  career  in  Congress  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  his  con- 
stituency. As  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  he 
was  instrumental  in  securino;  the  inoorj)oration  of  an  amendment  into  the 
bill  for  the  construction  of  the  Pacific  lluilroad,  now  being  built^  providing 
for  the  Northern  Branch.  He  also  introduced  and  urged  through  Congress 
the  act  making  all  foreign-born  soldiers  who,  after  service  in  the  Union 
army,  should  be  honorably  discharged  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  And,  Avhat  will  stand  to  his  credit  forever  in  the  record  of  that 
eventful  epocli  in  American  history  is  the  fiict  that  he  was  the  first  to  offer 
a  resolution  in  Congress  for  tlie  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  of  rebels, 
and  the  abolition  of  slavery  entirely  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

INIr.  Arnold  was  among  the  first  and  foremost  in  supporting  all  the 
military  measures  of  the  Government  during  the  war.  He  never  faltered, 
never  desponded,  not  even  for  a  moment.  His  first  speech  in  Congress  of 
a  political  character,  made  May  22,  1862,  was  in  advocacy  of  the  confis- 
cation of  the  propert}'^  and  the  liberation  of  the  slaves  of  rebels.  He 
advocated  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He 
introduced  and  carried  through  a  bill  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Terri- 
tories. In  January,  1864,  he  introduced  a  l)ill  confirming  the  President's 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  spoke  at  length  upon  "  the  power  and 
necessity  of  destroying  slavery  in  the  Southern  States,"  declaring  tliat 
"  slavery  must  die  by  the  laws  of  war,"  and  that  "  there  could  be  no 
peace  while  slavery  lived." 

On  his  return  to  Chicago,  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress  in  July, 
1864,  Mr.  Arnold  had  an  enthusiastic  public  recej)tion  at  the  hands  and 
hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was  escorted  to  Metropolitan  Hall, 
M'herc  he  was  formally  welcomed  and  thanked  in  the  name  of  the  people 
of  Chicago  by  Col.  C.  G.  Hammond,  the  chairman  of  the  meeting.  Mr. 
Arnold  responded  in  an  eloquent  address,  explanatory  of  his  course  in 
Congress,  and  in  giving  his  views  upon  the  state  of  the  country.  His 
speech  was  frequently  applauded,  and  a  resolution  of  thanks  unanimously 
passed  for  Jiis  able  and  faithful  services  in  Congress. 

His  confidence  in  President  Lincoln  never  wavered,  and  wlicn  a  move- 
ment was  made  in  opposition  to  his  re-nomination  and  re-election  in  1864, 
he  ardently  dcfi-ndod  him.  In  IVfarch  of  that  year,  he  made  a  strong 
s|)ccch  in  the  House  on  "Reconstruction — Liberty  the  corner-stone,  and 
Lincoln  the  architect,"  in  which  he  ably  and  effectively  vindicated  the 
Administration.     This  speech   was  published  ;iud  widely  circulated  as  a 


414  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

campaign  doeiinient.     tie  adhered  to  the  "^Martyr  President"  to  the  last, 
and  events  proved  that  his  confidence  was  well  placed. 

In  June,  1863,  Gen.  Burnside,  then  commanding  this  military  depart- 
ment, issued  an  order  for  the  suppression  of  the  "Chicago  Times,"  on 
account  of  its  disloyal  utterances.  Mr.  Arnold  was  then  in  Chicago.  The 
order  caused  intense  excitement  among  the  political  friends  of  the  "  Times," 
and  violence  was  threatened  and  an  outbreak  imminent.  A  number  of 
citizens  of  both  parties  united  in  a  reqiiest  to  President  Lincoln,  by  tele- 
graph, that  the  order  be  revoked,  so  that  the  peace  of  the  eomnumity  could 
be  restored.  At  their  request,  Mr.  Arnold,  in  conjunction  witli  Senator 
Trumbull,  sent  a  dispatch  to  the  President,  asking  that  he  would  give  his 
serious  and  prompt  consideration  to  their  message.  The  President  revoked 
the  order,  and,  although  there  are  those  Avho  censured  ]Mr.  Arnold  for  his 
course  in  this  matter,  he  and  the  President  never  regretted  their  action. 
The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Lincoln  to  ]\Ir.  Arnold  explains  itself: 

"ExECTTTivE  Mansion,  Washington,  May  27,  18G4. 
"  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold: 

"J/y  Dear  Sir :  I  hear  you  are  assailed  for  your  action  in  regard  to  Gen.  Burnside's 
order  suppressing  the  Chicago  'Times.'  All  you  did  was  to  send  me  two  dispatches.  In 
the  first  you,  jointly  with  Senator  Trumbull,  very  properly  asked  my  serious  and  prompt 
consideration  for  a  petition  of  some  of  your  constituents,  praying  for  a  revocation  of  the 
order.  In  the  second,  you  said  you  did  not  in  the  first  dispatch  intend  to  express  an 
opinion  that  the  order  should  be  abrogated.  This  is  absolutely  all  that  ever  came  to  me 
from  you  on  the  subject.  I  am  far  from  certain  to-day  that  the  revocation  was  not  right, 
and  I  am  very  sure  the  small  part  you  took  in  it  is  no  proper  ground  to  disparage  your 
judgment,  much  less  to  impugn  your  motives. 

"Your  devotion  to  the  Union  and  the  Administration  cannot  be  questioned  by  any 
sincere  man.  Yours  truly,  Abkaham  Lincoln." 

Mr.  Arnold  declined  a  re-v.omination  to  Congress  in  1864,  and  after 
]Mr.  Lincoln's  re-nomination  at  Baltimore,  he  devoted  himself  during  that 
Presidential  campaign  to  public  speaking,  in  support  of  the  President  and 
his  war  policy.  He  addressed  meetings  in  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Michigan^ 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York.  He  performed  good  service,  and 
when  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election  was  secured,  no  man  in  the  Avorld  felt 
happier  or  more  gratified  than  did  Mr.  Arnold. 

With  Mr.  Lincoln's  approval,  Mr.  Arnold,  during  the  last  year  of  the 
President's  life,  was  engaged  in  preparing  a  history  of  that  great  man'? 
career,  and  of  the  overthrow  of  slavery.  To  facilitate  his  labors  for  this 
purpose,  which  had  to  be  performed  at  Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln  tendered 


ISAAC   N.   ARNOLD.  415 

him  the  position  of  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  also  that  of  Auditor  of  the  Treasury  lor  the  Post  Office 
Department;  but  before  the  appointment  was  made,  the  President  was 
assassinated,  and  his  successor  appointed  him  to  tiie  Auditorship,  He 
performed  the  duties  of  this  office  in  connection  with  his  literary  labors, 
until  Mr.  Johnson's  political  apostacy,  when,  in  a  letter  giving  his  views 
plainly  on  the  political  (piestions  of  the  day,  informing  the  President 
that  he  was  not  following  the  footsteps  of  his  "illustrious  predecessor,"  he 
resigned  the  office,  and  returned  to  Chicago.  A  few  weeks  after  his 
return,  he  completed  his  historical  Mork,  Avhich  has  since  been  published 
in  one  large  volume,  and  is  by  far  the  most  complete  and  faithful  record 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  career  and  of  the  history  of  the  overthrow  of  slavery 
that  has  yet  been  given  to  the  public.  He  is  now  engaged  in  gatliering 
and  compiling  the  speeches  and  state  papers  of  ^Ir.  Lincoln,  some  of 
which  have  never  yet  appeared  in  print. 

Mr.  Arnold  has  resumed  his  profession  in  Chicago,  but  appears  to 
avoid  public  life.  He  is  greatly  respected  by  his  fellow  citizens,  who 
have  long  since  learned  to  admire  liiiu  for  his  manly  qualities,  and  who 
would  in  time  to  come  be  as  ready  as  they  have  been  in  time  past  to 
demonstrate  their  confidence  in  his  ability  for  positions  of  honor  and 
public  trust.  In  the  enjoyment  of  vigorous  health,  blessed  with  worldly 
fortune  and  domestic  contentment,  Mr.  Arnold  doubtless  has  still  many 
years  of  private  and  public  usefulness  before  him,  in  Avhieh  to  cntwn  the 
personal  distinction  Avhich  he  has  already  achieved  as  an  able  lawyer,  an 
upright  politician,  a  patriotic  statesman,  and  faithful  historian. 


CHARLES  TOBEY. 


The  quiet  perseverance  of  honest  industry  has  more  exponents  than 
chroniclers.  Where  the  short  sharp  struggle,  or  the  masterly  movement 
challenge  admiration  and  demand  a  record,  the  not  less  heroic  and  more 
truly  noble  conflict  with  the  world,  in  which  one  man,  at  a  great  personal 
disadvantage,  finds  the  hand  of  every  one  raised  against  him,  and  by  dint 
of  unwearied  attention  to  the  one  great  object  gradually  threads  his  way 
through  and  between  opposing  obstacles,  rather  than  beafe  them  down,  too 
seldom  iinds  a  place  in  our  permanent  annals.  Yet  these  are  the  men 
who  have  done  most  for  the  real  benefit  of  themselves  and  their  race. 
They  have  not  with  leaping  pole  bridged  the  chasm  which  isolates  the 
mountain  crag,  but  with  slow  and  toilsome  steps  they  have  ascended  the 
steep,  and  gained  the  fertile  plateau  Avhose  plenty  makes  glad  tlie  hearts 
of  a  community.  Their  success  is  not  based  on  the  injury  of  otliers, 
nor  achieved  by  subterfuge  or  knavery,  but,  as  the  legitimate  fruit  of 
unwearying  application,  is  so  much  added  to  the  world's  wealth,  and  so 
much  of  an  augmentation  to  its  concrete  happiness.  It  is  tlie  presence  of 
these  men,  so  largely  numerous  among  us,  tliat  has  given  to  Chicago  its 
proud  prominence  among  the  cities  of  tlie  West,  stamping  her  as  the 
mistress  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  all  that  pertains  to  commercial  enter- 
prise and  legitimate  business  growth.  It  is  the  presence  of  this  clement 
which  enables  her  to  reach  out  and  beyond  her  fc^rmcr  rivals  into  that 
which  once  was  regarded  as  their  exclusive  domain,  and,  likr  tlic  sun 
among  the  planets,  forcing  not  only  them,  but  their  satellites,  to  revolve 
in  obedience  to  the  influence  of  its  own  sui)erior  attraction. 

One  of  these  conquerors  of  adverse  circumstances  is  Mr.  CHARLES 
ToBEY,  the  well-known  furniture  manufacturer  antl  dealer,  whose  skill 


418  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

and  enterprise  have  done  so  much  to  beautify  and  render  comfortable  our 
Western  homes  and  places  of  business,  and  whose  integrity  has  been  so 
largely  instrumental  in  redeeming  the  character  of  Western  work  from 
the  low  estimation  in  which  it  was  at  one  time  held.  Commencing  at 
the  lowest  starting  point,  he  worked  his  way  up,  slowly  but  surely,  to 
his  present  position,  which  is  not  only  one  of  j)rofit,  but  of  reflex  honor 
to  the  community.  The  products  of  his  manufactory  have  achieved 
for  him  an  enviable  reputation,  which,  though  but  carved  in  wood,  is 
"  as  durable  as  if  graved  in  marble. 

Charles  Tobey  was  born  in  1831,  in  Dennis,  Barnstable  County,  Cape 
Cod,  Massachusetts,  and  is  the  son  of  Jonathan  H.  Tobey,  who  owned  and 
worked  a  farm  which  had  been  occupied  by  his  family  through  a  line  of 
six  generations,  covering  a  period  of  about  two  hundred  years.  His 
ancestry  is  traced  back  directly  to  Wales,  Great  Britain,  through  a 
genealogical  record  of  eight  generations. 

The  early  years  of  Charles  were  spent  on  the  parental  farm,  which, 
when  old  enough,  he  helped  to  till,  working  nine  months  in  the  year, 
and  devoting  the  other  three  to  obtaining  an  education  in  the  common 
district  schools  of  that  day.  His  opportunities  were  very  limited,  and 
even  those  poor  privileges  were  far  from  seeming  to  be  fully  improved. 
He  was  not  regarded  as  a  very  promising  scholar,  being,  as  his  Either 
recently  remarked,  "more  devoted  to  trading  jack-knives  than  to  conju- 
gating verbs."  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  made  several  attempts  to  follow 
the  sea,  his  great  ambition  being  to  go  out  in,  and  own,  a  boat,  but  he 
finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  what  the  sailors  call  a  "dog's 
life,"  as  well  as  unprofitable.  The  last  consideration  decided  him,  for  he 
had  early  become  impressed  with  the  importance  of  prospering  in  the 
Avorld,  and  determined  to  spare  no  jjains  to  earn  a  competency.  He  was 
never  afraid  of  work,  but  willing  to  j)ut  his  hand  to  anything  that  turned 
up,  and  remarkably  dexterous  in  his  adaptability  to  everything  but  dry, 
book  studies.  By  the  time  he  had  attained  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he  gave 
promise  of  being  an  excellent  farmer,  but  the  occu]3ation  did  not  suit  him. 
He  wanted  something  with  more  "dash,"  more  opportunity  for  getting 
along,  and  mingling  with  the  great  social  throng,  than  was  possible  in 
handling  the  plow,  and  he  determined  to  learn  a  mercantile  business. 
With  carpet-bag  in  hand,  he  took  passage  for  Boston  in  a  packet,  and 
there  sought  a  situation.  The  search  was  a  long  though  diligent  one,  for 
situations  were  far  from  being  plenty.     He  was  well-nigh  disheartened, 


CHARLES   TOBEY.  419 

wlien  a  friend  stepped  in  and  procured  him  a  ])lace  as  porter  in  a 
liirniture  .store.  He  labored  there  faithfully  for  four  months,  receivinj^ 
five  dollars  per  Aveck  as  comi)ensation  for  his  services.  During  this 
time  he  found  it  very  difticult  to  live  on  his  income,  but  manfully 
refused  proffered  assistance  from  his  friends,  determining  to  be  inde- 
pendent, and  looking  forward  hopefully  to  the  time  'when  he  -would  be 
promoted  to  a  better  position.  The  end  of  four  months  brought  an 
increase,  and  several  steps  upward  were  made  in  the  course  of  the  next 
two  yeai's.  Then  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  position  as  salesman  in  a 
large  new  furniture  house.  He  thus  passed  about  two.  years,  gaining 
golden  opinions  from  every  one,  and  being  generally  looked  on  as  a 
young  man  who  would  make  a  broad  mark  in  the  world.  His  prospects 
in  Boston  were  good,  even  in  the  face  of  the  strong  competition  which 
obtained  there,  but  he  could  not  stay.  He  had  heard  the  glowing  accounts 
which  reached  that  staid  city  of  the  wonderful  place  called  Chicago,  then 
on  the  very  circumference  of  the  civilized  wheel  of  which  Boston  has  been 
called  **  the  hub."  He  fought  for  awhile,  but  having  caught  the  genuine 
fever,  he  was  obliged  to  break  out — West.  Without  a  single  friend  or 
acquaintance  between  Boston  and  the  regions  of  the  setting  sun,  or  even 
a  letter  to  any  one,  he  started,  in  the  autumn  of  1855,  and  came  to 
Chicago.  His  first  impressions  of  the  place  were  favorable;  it  was  then 
a  scene  of  intense  activity,  and  he  was  eager  to  plunge  and  mingle  with 
the  busy  throng.  He  found  it  difficult,  as  so  many  others  have  done,  to 
push  his  way  into  the  bustling  crowd,  but  at  last  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  situation  as  clerk  in  a  furniture  store,  where  he  remained  about  six 
months. 

Mr.  Tobey  was  soon  satisfied  that  he  could  do  much  better  than 
working  for  a  salarj'.  He  saw  in  this  busy  metropolis  a  fine  field  fi)r 
enterprise,  and  determined  to  cultivate  it.  He  accepted  the  offer  of  a  loan 
of  five  hundred  dollars  from  the  Hon.  Francis  Bassett,  a  distinguished 
lawyer  and  capitalist  of  Boston,  who  was  a  distant  relative  and  had 
always  shown  himself  a  warm  friend.  With  this  little  capital,  the  young 
man  commenced  business  in  the  sjjring  of  185G,  at  Xo.  29G  .State  street, 
and  succeeded  beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  A  subsequent  loan 
of  like  amount,  voluntarily  made  by  the  same  gentleman,  after  satisfying 
himself  relative  to  the  business  capacity  of  our  young  merchant,  gave  a 
new  impetus  to  the  trade  already  establishcil.  Although  Mr.  Tobey 
offered  to  cancel  this  indebtedness  at  various  times,  yet  Mr.  Bassett  refused 


420  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

to  accept  it,  allowing  it  to  remain  in  his  hands  foi*  a  number  of  years, 
when  Mr.  Tobey  insisted  upon  paying  it,  as  it  was  the  only  note  held 
against  him.  It  would  be  proper  to  remark  here,  that  Mr.  Tobey  holds 
in  great  respect  this  gentleman,  and  looks  upon  him  as  a  benefactor  to 
Avhom  he  is  indebted  for  all  that  he  now  possesses. 

How  often  is  it  the  case  tliat  a  friendly  hand,  extended  at  the  proper 
time  to  one  who  is  struggling  for  success  in  life,  will  inspire  him  M'ith 
zeal  and  make  an  impression  on  the  mind  which  lasts  until  death.  The 
lesson  thus  learned  by  Mr.  Tobey  in  the  instance  referred  to  has  not  been 
forgotten,  as  the  many  opportunities  for  assisting  others  which  he  has 
improved  will  abundantly  testify.  Thousands  of  dollars  have  thus  been 
invested,  as  we  might  say,  in  deeds  of  charity,  seeing  that  much  of  it 
can  never  be  repaid,  except  in  hearts  filled  with  thankfulness. 

In  1858,  he  took  his  brother,  Francis  B.  Tobey,  into  partnership,  and 
the  next  year  moved  to  the  corner  of  State  and  Randolph  streets.  The 
firm  remained  thero  two  years,  and  then  moved  to  No.  82  Lake  street. 
The  ensuing  four  years  was  a  season  of  extraordinary  success.  The  firm 
did  a  large  and  profitable  business,  and  M'as  able  to  command  the  erection 
of  the  large  and  commodious  buildings  Nos.  87  and  89  State  street,  in 
which  the  business  is  at  present  conducted.  They  advanced  ten  thousand 
dollars — half  the  cost  of  the  building — on  the  five  years'  lease. 

An  incident  in  this  connection  is  worthy  of  mention.  Meeting  daily 
with  many  of  the  most  prominent  business  men  of  our  city,  he  found  that 
all  who  expressed  themselves  Avere  unanimous  in  their  opinion  tliat  he 
had  made  a  fatal  mistake  in  transferring  his  business  location  to  State 
street,  some  of  them  predicting  ruin  at  no  distant  day.  As  a  proof  that 
Mr.  Tobey 's  far-reaching  vision  was  not  defective,  Me  may  add  that  the 
first  year's  business  in  his  new  location  exceeded  by  one  liundred  thousand 
dollars  that  of  any  previous  year.  Having  such  ample  accommodations 
for  years  to  come,  at  about  one-third  the  rental  which  could  be  obtained 
for  the  establishment  to-day,  it  does  not  require  much  discernment  to 
enable  any  one  to  see  that  he  has  an  advantage  in  the  sale  of  his  goods 
which  must  enable  him  to  defy  competition.  Having  given  the  location  a 
fair  test,  we  are  not  surprised  to  know  that  he  has  taken  a  lease  of  twenty 
feet  more,  immediately  adjoining  his  present  store.  The  building  to  be 
erected  upon  it  will  be  occupied  chiefly  by  himself,  his  increasing  business 
demanding  it.  Located  next  to  one  of  the  most  magnificent  blocks  on 
the    continent,   now   being   erected    by   Potter   Palmer,    Esq.,   M^e   may 


CHARLES  TOBEY.  421 

reasonably  expect  tliat  the  large  and  fashionable  trade  which  Mr.  Tubey 
lias  commanded  for  years  past  will  speedily  be  increased  to  more  than 
double  its  present  amount. 

In  reference  to  the  peculiarities  of  character  possessed  by  Mr.  Tobey, 
we  think  every  one  personally  acquainted  with  him  will  bear  us  out  in 
the  followinp;  delineation.  He  is  a  man  of  business  promptness,  dliciency, 
positiveness,  and  enterprise.  Indomitable  perseverance  is  his  predominant 
quality,  and  unusually  developed.  His  history  thus  far  demonstrates  the 
fact  that  he  is  peculiarly  well  adapted  t(j  do  a  successful  business,  haviii;:^ 
a  certain  versatility  of  talent  which  will  succeed  in  almost  anything  in 
which  he  might  engage.  He  systematizes  everything  he  touches,  thus 
enabling  him  to  do  a  large  business  comparatively  easy.  He  seems  to  be 
more  annoyed  by  disarrangement  than  by  anything  else.  He  has  the  very 
highest  sense  of  business  honor  and  honesty,  and  would,  on  no  account, 
compromise  his  reputation  or  break  faith.  We  believe  he  would  rather 
not  live  than  live  in  disgrace.  He  is  exceedingly  particular  about  his 
promises,  and  will  not  bear  any  imputations  on  his  honor.  He  evidently 
is  possessed  of  that  thrift,  harmony,  industry,  sense,  talent,  efficiency  and 
manner,  as  well  as  interest,  which  will  build  up  slowly  and  surely.  He 
is  well  known  as  a  very  modest,  unassuming  man,  and  his  success  in  life 
is  not  due  to  obtrusiveness.  It  has  been  the  necessary  result  of  faithful 
attention  to  his  business. 

Mr.  Tobcy's  versatility  of  talent,  to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  ha-< 
enabled  him  to  engage  in  many  different  branches  at  the  same  time.  This 
accounts,  in  some  measure,  for  the  uniform  success  which  has  attended 
his  investments  outside  of  his  legitimate  business.  There  is,  no  doubt, 
a  great  ditierence  in  men  in  this  respect.  Whilst  some  men  lose  in 
nearly  everything  they  touch,  aside  from  the  beaten  track  which  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  for  years,  others  are  successful.  Among  the 
latter  class  Mr.  Tobey  must  be  placed.  We  shall  not,  out  of  deference 
to  his  known  modesty,  go  into  details  on  this  point.  It  is  suHicient  to  say 
that  he  is  one  of  the  largest  stockholders  of  the  Fourth  National  Bank, 
of  which  he  is  a  Director,  and  that  he  is  classed  among  those  public- 
spirited  and  enterprising  Chicag(jans  who  accumulate  wealth,  *'not,"  as 
Burns  says,  "for  to  hide  it  in  a  hedge,  nor  for  a  train  attendant,"  but  to 
so  invest  it  as  to  increase  the  })ublic  as  well  as  his  own  personal  pros- 
perity. To  those  unacquainted  with  his  private  interests,  it  might  appear 
that    his  accumulation   of  good    fortune    affords   evidence    of   exorbitant 


422  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

profits  from  his  business,  but,  whilst  he  realizes,  no  doubt,  a  fair  remu- 
neration upon  the  capital  thus  invested,  yet  he  is  indebted  for  his  vrealtli 
as  much,  or  more,  to  the  success  which  has  attended  the  investments 
alluded  to,  as  to  his  legitimate  business. 

In  the  dull  times  preceding  the  war,  the  Tobey  Brothers  had  always 
enough  to  do,  and  were  able  to  command  living  prices.  Mr.  Tobey,  who 
is  again  alone  in  the  business,  has  a  large  capital  employed  in  it,  as  must 
be  evident  to  any  one  on  seeing  the  immense  and  costly  array  of  goods  on 
exhibition  at  his  salesrooms. 

The  prosjjerity  which  has  attended  him  thus  far,  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  will  continue,  inasmuch  as  he  is  young  and  full  of  the  fire  of 
energy.  A  more  striking  example  for  the  imitation  of  those  who  are 
about  to  push  out  into  the  sea  of  life  we  could  not  present,  seeing  that  his 
success  has  been  rapidly  attained  and  is  solely  due  to  personal  qualities. 

Mr.  Tobey  has,  until  quite  recently,  been  what  a  quaint  old  writer 
calls  "an  I-by-myself-I."  But  on  the  17th  of  February,  1868,  this 
bachelor  became  a  benedick.  The  lady  whom  he  led  to  the  altar  was 
Miss  Fannie  Van  Arman,  daughter  of  Colonel  Van  Arman,  of  this  city. 
To  speak  of  the  bride  in  befitting  terms  is  no  easy  task;  for  what  a 
stranger  might  think  fulsome  flattery  would,  in  the  judgment  of  those 
who  know  her,  fall  far  short  of  the  truth.  We  will  only  say  that  she  is 
not  only  a  most  radiant  and  accomplished  member  of  the  elite  of  Chicago, 
but  a  person  of  such  strength  and  beauty  of  character  that  none  who 
know  her  can  name  her  but  to  praise  her. 


JOHN  M.  WILSON. 


Hon.  Johx  M.  "Wilson,  Chief  Justice  of  tlie  Superior  Court  of 
Chicago,  was  born  in  Hillsborough,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  12th  of 
November,  1802.  His  fatlier  was  a  business  man  of  rare  energy,  being  a 
farmer  and  a  merchant,  and  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  State. 
He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  His  mother,  a  sister  of  General  John 
McNeil,  who  served  with  honor  during  the  war  of  1812,  was,  ancestrally, 
a  Highland  Scot. 

Judge  Wilson  enjoyed  in  early  life  the  advantages  common  to  New 
England  boys  of  his  day,  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age ;  his  time  was 
divided  between  working  on  the  farm  and  attending  district  school.  He 
was  then  sent  to  an  academy,  preparatory  to  a  collegiate  education.  In 
1819,  he  entered  Dartmouth  College,  but  before  the  close  of  the  first  year 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  on  account  of  a  severe,  and,  as  it  proved,  chronic 
attack  of  dyspepsia.  Recovering  somewhat  his  health,  he  entered,  at  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  his  friend,  Franklin  Pierce,  the  sophomore  class  of 
Bowdoin  College,  of  which  the  latter  was  a  member.  He  was,  however, 
soon  again  obliged  to  leave  his  books.  He  then  gave  up  his  cherished 
plan  of  acquiring  a  classical  education,  and,  leaving  college  a  confirmed 
dyspeptic,  he  returned  to  Amherst,  N.  H.,  where  his  mother,  then  a  widow, 
resided.  He  concluded  to  become  a  business  man,  and  soon  went  into 
trade.  Mercantile  life  proving  distasteful,  he  abandoned  it  after  a  few 
years,  and  determined  to  recover,  if  possible,  his  shattered  health. 
Following  the  advice  of  his  ])hysician,  he  walked  to  Boston,  thence  as 
far  south  as  Georgia,  then  through  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  Ohio  to 
Lake  Erie,  where  he  took  a  boat  for  home,  by  way  of  New  York.  This 
long  pedestrian  journey,  consuming  several  months,  was  of  great  advan- 
tage to  him,  although  it  wrought  no  permanent  cure. 


424  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Finding  himself  able  to  resume  study,  our  tourist  entered  the  law 
office  of  Edward  Parker,  Esq.,  of  Amherst,  where  he  remained  a  little 
over  one  year,  when  he  entered  the  law  department  of  Yale  College, 
remaining  during  two  terms.  While  in  New  Haven,  his  fellow-students 
gave  him,  in  compliment  to  his  matchless  reasoning  powers,  the  cognomen 
of  ''Judge,"  by  which  he  was  known  through  the  college.  But  his  fellow- 
students  were  not  the  first  to  recognize  his  great  talent,  for  he  was  from 
childhood  looked  upon  as  a  prodigy  of  logic,  called  by  a  special,  albeit 
a  natural,  providence  to  be  a  lawyer. 

Having  completed  his  course  at  Yale,  our  young  barrister  returned 
to  Amherst  and  finished  his  legal  studies.  At  that  time  Lowell,  Mas- 
sachusetts, was  just  beginning  to  become  an  important  manufacturing 
town.  In  1831,  having  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  young  Wilson  opened 
a  law  office  there.  The  year  following,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Hon.  John  A.  Knowles,  of  that  city.  This  partnership  continued 
until  1835,  when  the  junior  piember  of  the  firm  had  the  good  sense 
to  go  AVest.  Recognizing  the  superior  advantages,  especially  for  a  young 
man,  of  a  new  over  an  old  country,  lie  resolved  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the 
pioneers,  although  he  had  no  very  definite  idea  of  the  locality  in  which 
he  should  finally  settle.  At  Buffiilo,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  the 
late  Justice  Butterfield,  then  on  his  way  back  to  Illinois  from  an  Eastern 
visit.  Owing  to  Judge  Butterfield's  representations,  he  decided  to  land 
at  Chicago.  Starting  from  this  point,  he  made  an  extended  tour  on 
horseback  through  Northern  and  Central  Illinois.  Becoming  satisfied 
that  Chicago  had  a  great  destiny  before  it,  he  wisely  made  land  invest- 
ments in  this  city  and  its  immediate  vicinity.     He  finally  settled  in  Joliet. 

Mr.  Wilson,  had  no  intention  at  that  time  of  resuming  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  His  old  disease  was  troubling  him  greatly,  and  his 
purpose  was  to  enter  some  active  business.  But  as  law-suits  were 
numerous  and  lawyers  were  few,  he  was  soon  drawn  into  practice.  Having 
always  had  a  fondness  for  the  profession,  he  was  the  easier  persuaded 
to  re-enter  it.  In  a  short  time  he  formed  a  partnership  with  John  C. 
Newkirk.  This  was  soon  dissolved,  when  he  became  the  partner  of  Judge 
Hugh  Henderson.  He  continued  with  liim  for  several  years,  gaining 
the  reputation  of  being  the  best  lawyer  at  the  Will  County  bar,  if  not  in 
Northern  Illinois.  Finally,  ill  health  again  compelled  him  to  abandon 
his  sedentary  habits. 

In  1847,  he  removed  to  Chicago,  but  with  no  expectation  of  practicing 


JOHN  M.  WIIJSON.  425 

his  profession.  This  climate,  and  cessation  from  office  labor,  proved  so 
beneficial  to  him,  that  in  the  year  following  he  had  so  far  recovered  his 
health  that  he  resumed  the  jiractice  of  his  profession.  He  entered  into  a 
partnership  with  L.  C.  Paine  Freer,  with  whom  he  remained  only  a  few 
months,  when  he  became  a  partner  of  the  Hon.  Norman  B.  Judd,  a 
connection  that  continued  for  several  years.  This  firm  at  once  took  rank 
as  one  of  the  best  in  Chicago.  Both  were  lawyers  of  the  highest  order 
of  talent  and  perfectly  trustworthy,  and  their  business  was  consequently 
extensive  and  remunerative.  During  the  last  few  years  of  their  practice, 
they  gave  almost  all  their  time  to  railroad  business,  being  the  Attorneys 
of  the  Michigan  Southern,  Rock  Island,  and  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railways. 

This  partnership  was  dissolved  in  consequence  of  the  election  of  Judge 
"Wilson  to  the  bench  of  the  Cook  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He 
remained  in  that  position  until  the  name  of  the  court  was  changed,  in  1859, 
to  the  Superior  Court  of  Chicago.  He  was  the  sole  Judge  of  the  former 
court,  but  the  business  being  altogether  too  extensive  for  one  man  to 
transact,  he  was  given,  by  the  law  changing  the  name  and  some  of  the 
functions  of  his  court,  two  Associate  Judges,  his  own  position  being  that 
of  Chief  Justice,  which  position  he  still  continues  to  occupy. 

Judge  Wilson  has  often  been  solicited  to  be  a  candidate  for  the 
Supreme  bench,  but  he  has  uniformly  declined.  When  Judge  Caton  wns 
a  candidate  for  re-election,  the  nomination  was  formally  tendered  to  him, 
but  he  published  a  letter  in  the  "Tribune,"  declining  it. 

In  his  domestic  relations,  Judge  Wilson  has  been  signally  blessed  and 
most  profoundly  afflicted.  In  1838,  he  married  Miss  Martha  A.  Appleton, 
of  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  who  is  still  the  sharer  of  his  joys  and  sorrows, 
but  three  of  their  five  children  sleep  under  the  sod.  We  Avill  not,  how- 
ever, cross  the  sacred  threshold  of  his  home,  further  than  to  add  in  regard 
to  his  surviving  children  that  one  is  a  son,  the  other  a  daughter.  Judge 
Wilson  generally  attends  the  services  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  he  is 
very  liberal  in  his  views  on  Christian  doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  polity. 
We  may  also  add  that  his  health  is  at  present,  and  has  been  for  the  last 
ten  years,  much  better  than  formerly. 

This  brief  sketch  would  be  imperfect  without  some  reference  to  the 
elements  of  Judge  Wilson's  judicial  character;  and  the  writer  can  only 
regret  that  he  has  not  more  space  for  the  full  analysis  of  so  admirable  a 
subject.     Never,  perhaps,  was  the  character  of  a   Judge  more  strongly 


426  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

marked  by  qualities  of  eminence,  and  those,  too,  which  are  commonly 
regarded  as  incompatible.  Thus,  on  the  bench,  the  moTcments  of  his 
mind  are  quick,  yet  the  result  of  the  mental  process  bears  all  the  indica- 
tions of  the  most  elaborate  and  patient  thought.  His  legal  sagacity  acts 
like  a  power  of  spontaneous  intuition,  piercing,  at  once  and  on  bare 
presentation,  the  very  heart  of  the  question  at  issue,  and  yet  the  enuncia- 
tion of  his  ultimate  decision  assumes  the  form  of  a  chain  of  careful  and 
compact  ratiocination  in  which  every  separate  link  is  seen  to  be  the  expres- 
sion of  a  syllogistic  thought,  the  necessary  consequent  of  the  thought  that 
went  before,  and  the  logical  antecedent  of  the  thought  that  must  follow. 
Indeed,  the  crowning  characteristic  of  his  intellect  as  a  Judge  is  its 
severity  and  continuity  of  logic.  All  the  evolutions  of  his  mind  appear 
to  run  in  regular  and  systematic  sequences,  so  that  it  would  not  be  a 
difficult  task  to  take  any  one  of  his  published  or  manuscript  opinions  and 
throw  it  into  a  series  of  formal  syllogisms  by  merely  supplying  the 
suppressed  premises.  The  form  of  his  habitual  thought  seems  cast  in  the 
Scotch  rather  than  the  Englisli  mould,  since  it  is  nearly  always,  and 
pre-eminently,  deductive.  It  is,  however,  this  peculiarity  which  qualifies 
him  for  the  exalted  position  he  holds  as  a  Judge,  because  the  inductive 
logic  can  find  no  place  in  the  actual  administration  of  jurisprudence,  and 
the  solution  of  all  legal  problems,  offered  to  the  consideration  of  courts, 
must  of  necessity  be  effected  by  pure  deduction. 

All  la^vyers  who  have  had  the  pleasure  of  practicing  before  Judge 
Wilson  must  have  remarked  that  he  hardly  ever  fails  to  draw  his  conclu- 
sions from  general  principles,  rather  than  from  the  authority  of  particular 
cases.  But  it  should  not  be  inferred,  from  this  observation,  that  he 
neglects  the  citations  of  adjudicated  cases.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  most 
industrious  and  painstaking  in  that  respect.  He,  however,  adduces  and 
compares  the  cases,  not  for  the  sake  of  the  special  adjudications  therein 
announcerl,  but  almost  exclusively  with  a  view  to  the  principles  which 
serve  as  the  premises  of  the  judicial  reasoning.  In  other  words,  he  seeks 
out  and  compares  the  rationes  decidendi  of  the  cases,  and  employs  these 
as  the  fundamental  postulates  of  his  own  decisions. 

Another  peculiarity  of  Judge  Wilson's  legal  genius  is  his  extreme  and, 
perhaps  one  might  say,  passionate  love  for  great  cases,  and  especially  for 
constitutional  questions.  The  ironical  adage  of  maximus  in  minimis  has 
no  application  to  him.  He  is  rather  like  the  Hercules  of  Euripides, 
"rough  and  unbred,  but  great   on   great   occasions."     In   the  mass  of 


1 
1 


JOHX  M.  WIIJSON.  427 

ordinary  and  prosaic  cases  which  constitute  the  staple  of  litigation,  he  is 
merely  an  ordinary  Judge,  neither  rising  above  nor  sinking  below  the 
average  of  the  State  judiciary.  But  let  a  great  occasion  occur,  let  a  grand 
question  be  presented,  one  involving  some  original  principle  of  general 
jurisprudence,  or  touching  the  limits  or  landmarks  of  constitutional  law, 
and  the  whole  nature  of  the  man  seems  to  undergo  a  metamorphosis  so 
strange  as  to  be  at  times  startling.  The  habitual  flush  on  his  face  deepens 
to  the  red  of  crimson;  the  nervous,  twitching  motion  of  his  hands  betokens 
the  passion  of  a  powerful  mental  excitement,  and  his  eye  literally  burns 
into  intellectual  beauty,  yet  never  loses  that  fixed  look  as  of  introverted 
thought,  a  look  which  has  made  his  countenance  familiar  to  all  the  better 
citizens  of  Chicago — a  look  which  was  noted  by  the  ancients  in  Socrates, 
and  wliich  has  been  characteristic  of  all  profound  thinkers  among  the 
moderns.  On  such  occasions,  the  whole  frame  of  Judge  Wilson  seems 
overcharged  with  electric  fluid,  and  yet  his  speech  is  calm,  collected,  con- 
centrated, as  that  of  a  sage  soliloquizing  in  his  closet.  Indeed,  it 
ofttiraes  sounds  like  one  talking  to  himself,  rather  than  like  the  utter- 
ance of  a  Judge  pronouncing  an  opinion  within  the  hearing  of  a  crowded 
audience  intently  listening  as  if  every  word  were  the  revelation  of  an 
oracle.  It  is  this  greatness  of  Judge  Wilson,  on  great  occasions,  which 
has  induced  the  bar,  as  by  common  consent,  to  select  him  as  the  judicial 
arbiter  of  all  the  most  difficult  and  important  causes.  It  was  this 
which  induced  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  to  pay  him  the  unpar- 
alleled compliment  of  adopting  three  of  his  published  opinions  as  their 
own.  It  is  this  which,  by  the  universal  accord  of  the  profession  and  of 
the  people,  has  rendered  his  name  famous,  and  has  placed  him  in  public 
estimation  as  first  and  foremost  among  the  judiciary  of  the  State.  It 
would  be  idle  to  deny  that  Judge  Wilson  sometimes  commits  errors  of 
opinion,  even  on  great  occasions,  because  this  is  the  inevitable  fate  of  the 
wisest  among  mortals.  But  in  error  itself,  he  occupies  so  lofty  a  vantage 
ground  in  logic  that  few  lawyers  or  Judges  can  find  the  competence  to 
cope,  by  solid  argument,  with  the  force  of  the  very  fallacies  that  lead  him 
into  error.  In  such  cases,  it  is  easy  to  say  that  he  is  wrong,  though  hard 
to  sec  how  or  why  he  is  wrong,  while  to  prove  him  in  the  wrong  is  a  task 
of  such  extreme  difficulty  as  to  baffle  the  powers  of  most  legal  logicians. 
Courts  of  higher  resort  occasionally  overrule  him,  but  scarcely  ever  attempt 
to  answer  him. 

A  view  of  the  judicial  character  of  Judge  Wilson  in  its  moral  aspect 


428  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

should  not  be  omitted.  His  abhorrence  of  every  species  of  wrong,  and  his 
enduring  love  of  that  equality  of  rights  which  constitutes  the  very  essence 
of  justice,  manifest  themselves  in  many  ways  on  the  bench,  but  more 
especially  in  the  vast  increase  of  his  mental  power  when  struggling  to 
maintain  the  equitable  right  against  some  gigantic  fraud  which  has 
intrenched  itself  in  the  technical  strongholds  of  the  law,  or  which  comes 
before  the  courts  in  the  odious  and  aggressive  form  of  wealth  or  official 
influence  assailing  the  poor,  the  feeble,  or  the  friendless.  It  is  then  that 
he  is  seen  to  be  truly  great  in  all  the  roundness  of  a  perfect  character, 
combining  with  the  strength  of  his  irresistible  logic  the  caustic  irony  of 
an  eloquence  that  burns  to  the  bone,  and  the  keenness  of  a  wit  sparkling 
as  the  diamond,  while  it  pierces  and  stings  like  a  poisoned  arrow. 

The  fact  should  also  be  noted,  as  something  curious  and  peculiar,  that 
in  his  social  intercourse  Judge  Wilson  is  affable  and  easy  of  access, 
free  to  converse  on  all  subjects  and  with  all  classes,  to  discuss  questions 
of  philosophy  or  politics,  or  even  to  talk  gossip;  yet  the  moment  he 
ascends  the  bench  all  this  is  changed,  as  if  the  entire  nature  of  his 
personality  had  undergone  an  instantaneous  and  miraculous  transformation. 
He  assumes  a  cold,  stern,  statuesque  dignity.  He  has  become  a  man  of 
marble.  A  mere  glance  at  his  countenance  represses,  or  rather  annihilates, 
the  bold  impudence  of  the  pettifogger,  and  almost  inspires  fear  in  the 
most  experienced  and  worthy  members  of  the  profession.  Every  one 
feels  instinctively  that  he  stands  in  presence  of  a  Judge  who  is  deaf  alike 
to  the  appeals  of  passionate  vehemence  and  the  siren  tones  of  persuasion 
uttered  by  insinuating  flattery.  This  severe,  and  yet  serene,  dignity  of 
demeanor  is  usually  preserved  throughout  the  longest  trial  or  hearing, 
save  in  rare  instances,  when  some  ludicrous  event  or  argument  causes  the 
face  of  the  Judge  to  ripple  with  an  irrepressible  smile.  Finally,  on  all 
occasions,  whenever  he  sustains  or  overrules  a  motion,  or  pronounces  an 
elaborate  decision  in  a  celebrated  cause,  the  unanimous  acclamation  of 
the  brotherhood  of  the  bar  is,  rem  acu  tetigisti. 


HUGH  T.  DICKEY. 


Judge  Dickey  is  a  native  of  New  York  city,  where  lie  was  born 
May  30,  1812.  His  father,  Mr.  Robert  Dickey,  ii  merchant  of  the 
"Empire  City,"  and  his  mother,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  George  Brown, 
who  was  an  eminent  Baltimore  physician,  were  both  of  Irish  descent. 
Their  ancestors  lived  in  the  county  of  Antrim,  in  the  north  part  of  the 
island,  and  belonged  to  the  protestant  gentry.  Dr.  Brown,  already 
mentioned,  was  an  alumnus  of  Dublin  College;  also  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  where  he  received  his  medical  education.  He  immigrated 
with  his  family  to  Baltimore  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  his 
daughter  Anne,  afterwards  Mrs.  Dickey,  being  at  that  time  a  chiKl. 
Judge  Dickey's  father  received  his  education  in  England,  whence  he  sailed 
for  America  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  settling  at  Baltimore.  He  at  once 
entered  the  counting-room  of  the  late  firm  of  Oliver  &  Thompson,  a 
leading;  mercantile  house  of  Baltimore,  where  he  remained  until  he  became 
thoroughly  competent  to  do  business  on  his  own  responsibility.  He 
was  indebted  for  his  position  to  his  uncle,  Hugh  Thompson,  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm,  and  after  whom  he  named  his  son. 

Philadelphia  was  then  the  foremost  city  of  the  continent,  and  Balti- 
more, now  the  tiiird  city  in  the  Union,  was  then  next  to  it  in  wealth  and 
population,  as  it  still  is,  if  we  count  New  York  and  its  suburbs  one  city. 
The  genius  of  DeWitt  Clinton  had  not  then  made  the  Empire  City  the 
heart  of  western  commerce — the  great  metropolis  of  America.  It  was, 
however,  a  half  century  ago  the  centre  of  a  vast  trade,  and  thither  Mr. 
Dickey  directed  his  stei)s,  aii<l  tiiere  he  spent  a  long  and  prosperous  life. 
He  had  been  married  five  years  when  the  son,  destined  to  take  a  loading 
position  in  the  imperial  city  of  Chicago,  was  born. 


430  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Judge  Dickey  has  ever  been  fortune's  favored  cb.ild.  In  his  parental 
home  every  want  was  anticipated,  and  nothing  which  money,  afl'ection 
and  wisdom  could  do  to  make  his  early  life  joyous,  and  a  fit  opening  to  a 
noble  manhood,  Avas  neglected.  To  some,  the  heavy  burden  of  poverty, 
the  stern  necessity  of  early  self-reliance,  prove  a  stepping-stone  to  great- 
ness; to  others,  the  kindly  ministrations  of  affluence,  the  sweet  influences 
of  a  home  radiant  with  the  light  of  all  prosperity,  prove  the  agencies  best 
adapted  to  develop  a  true  manliness  of  character,  and  insure  success  in 
the  battle  of  life.  Of  this  latter  class  was  young  Dickey.  Tlie  necessity 
of  discipline  or  effort  Avas  not  upon  him;  but,  so  far  from  spending  his 
time  in  idle  frivolity,  or,  worse  still,  in  vicious  indulgence,  he  scrupulously 
avoided  the  primrose  path  of  pleasure,  and,  by  devotion  to  study,  pre- 
pared himself  for  the  arduous  duties  of  manhood  by  a  wise  ufee  of  his 
time  in  youth. 

In  the  grammar-school,  Avhere  his  early  school  days  were  spent,  he 
always  ranked  among  the  best  scholars  of  his  age.  When  only  eight 
years  old,  he  had  become  a  proficient  in  the  various  branches  of  a  good 
English  education,  and  liad  sufficient  maturity  of  mind  to  commence  the 
study  of  the  French  and  Latin  languages. 

It  was  evident  that  he  would  adorn  one  of  the  learned  professions, 
and  ought  not  to  be  put  to  the  drudgery  of  trade;  and  his  parents,  being 
discerning  enough  to  see  this,  educated  him  with  a  view  to  either  the  law 
or  medicine,  which  he  should  prefer  on  coming  to  years  of  mature  judg- 
ment. Accordingly,  in  the  autumn  of  1826,  Aviien  only  fourteen  years  of 
age,  we  find  our  precocious  youth  a  freshman  in  Columbia  College,  New 
York.  He  remained  there  four  years,  ranking  among  tlie  very  best 
scholars  in  a  class  of  thirty,  nearly  all  of  whom  Avere  older  than  himself. 
He  graduated  Avith  honors  remarkable  for  one  so  young,  finding  himself, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  in  possession  of  a  thorough  liberal  education,  good 
Ileal th,  and  full  of  the  enthusiasm  of  youth. 

Soon  after  graduating,  he  decided  one  of  the  most  important  questions 
of  life,  Avhich,  in  fact,  influenced  his  Avhole  future.  His  education  fitting 
him  for  any  position,  his  choice  Avas  that  of  the  profession  of  the  law,  the 
study  of  Avhich  he  immediately  commenced  Avith  Charles  Graham,  Esq., 
a  distinguished  member  of  the  Ncav  York  bar.  With  him  he  remained 
four  years,  Avhen  he  became  himself  a  member  of  that  bar.  As  he  Avas 
.'Still  a  very  young  man,  and  one  of  unusual  promise,  he  became  his  late 
) instructor's  assistaiit,  and  pontinued  to  fill  that  position  until  June,  1836, 


i 


, 


HUGH  T.  DICKEY.  431 

when  a  prevailing  desire  to  emigrate  to  the  younger  ami  more  enterprising 
States  of  the  West  was  felt  in  the  Eastern  cities.  He  yielded  to  this 
spirit,  and  took  his  journey  westward,  with  a  company  of  iriends,  resolved 
to  see  for  himself  the  wonders  of  the  West. 

Judge  Dickey  first  looked  upon  Chicago,  or,  rather,  upon  the  place 
where  it  was  to  be,  in  the  summer  of  1836.  He  spent  several  weeks  here 
at  that  time,  and  returned  again  in  the  autumn,  for  a  two  months'  visit  in 
the  city  and  State.  Having  formed  a  decided  preference  for  the  West, 
the  spring  of  1837  found  him  again  looking  about  him  with  a  view 
of  finding  a  desirable  location  for  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
for  a  home.  Being,  at  that  time,  unsuccessful  in  his  search,  he  returned 
to  New  York,  where  he  was  principally  engaged  in  studying  until  the 
summer  of  1838,  Avhen  he  came  again  to  Chicago,  having  decided  to 
make  it  his  home.  He  entered  into  partnership  with  Edward  G.  Ryan, 
Esq.,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  whom  he  had  known  in  New  York,  and 
who  had  been  instrumental  in  determining  him  to  locate  here.  They 
continued  to  be  partners  until  the  spring  of  1841,  when  Mr.  Ryan  started 
the  "Chicago  Tribune,"  and  the  partnership  between  them  was  dissolved. 

Having  now  made  a  reputation  equal  to  his  talent  and  anticipations, 
he  no  longer  needed  the  assistance  of  a  partner,  and,  thcrelbrc,  decided  to 
continue  the  practice  of  law  alone,  which  he  did  with  great  success, 
devoting  himself  exclusively  to  his  profession,  until  other,  and  perhaps 
higher,  duties  called  him  to  a  more  public  field  of  operations. 

In  1842,  a  vacancy  occurred  on  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  Hon.  Theophilus  ^V.  Smith,  one  of  the  Supreme  Judges,  having 
resigned  his  position.  On  account  of  his  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  his 
character  as  a  man,  Mr.  Dickey  was  almost  unanimously  recommended 
by  the  Chicago  bar,  and  also  by  the  people,  the  popular  will  having  been 
expressed  at  a  large  public  meeting,  to  the  Legislature,  then  in  session,  as 
a  man  eminently  suited  to  the  position  of  Supreme  Judge,  but,  to  the 
great  disappointment  of  his  numerous  friends  and  this  community 
generally,  the  choice  of  the  Legislature  fell  upon  the  late  Hon.  Richard 
M.  Young,  who  had  just  been  defeated  as  candidate  for  re-election  to  the 
United  States  Senate  by  Hon.  Sidney  Breese,  now  of  the  Supreme  Bench 
of  Illinois. 

In  the  vears  1843-4,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Common  Council, 
being  one  of  the  Aldermen  representing  the  First  Ward.  While  one  of 
the  "City  Fathers,"  he  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Schools. 


432  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES.  , 

In  that  capacity  he  projected  and  carried  out  the  present  system  of  leasing 
the  real  estate  belonguig  to  the  Chicago  school  fund  for  terms  of  years, 
especially  the  valuable  block  lying  between  State  and  Dearborn,  Madison 
and  Monroe  streets,  Avhich  was,  at  his  suggestion,  divided  into  subdivisions 
and  leased  upon  terms  which  made  it  far  more  profitable  to  the  school 
fund  than  it  had  ever  been  before.  The  services  rendered  to  the  city  by 
Judge  Dickey  in  the  unambitious  office  of  Alderman  were  not  confined  to 
one  department.  A  wise  counselor  in  all  things,  his  judgment  was  relied 
upon  in  all  matters  of  municipal  legislation. 

He  continued  to  practice  law  until  the  spring  of  1845,  when,  upon  the 
recommendation  of  a  large  number  of  the  bar  and  people  of  Cook  County, 
his  name  was  presented  to  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  for  election  to  the 
office  of  Judge  of  the  Cook  County  Court,  now  the  Superior  Court  of  the 
City  of  Chicago.  This  was  then  a  new  Court,  created  at  the  session 
of  the  General  Assembly  then  being  held.  It  had  only  one  presiding 
Judge  instead  of  three,  as  now,  and  possessed  concurrent  jurisdiction  with 
the  Circuit  Court.  The  Legislature,  with  great  unanimity,  elected  to  the 
new  and  highly  important  judiciary  the  choice  of  the  bar  and  people  most 
concerned.  Judge  Dickey  entered  upon  his  judicial  duties  in  the  spring 
of  1845,  proving,  from  the  first,  eminently  qualified  for  the  position. 

At  the  same  session  of  the  Legislature,  the  Jo  Daviess  County  Court, 
to  be  held  at  Galena,  was  created,  and  the  Cook  County  Judge  made, 
ex  officio,  Judge  of  that  Court  also.  His  double  duties  were  arduous  in 
the  extreme,  and  fraught  with  grave  responsibilities,  but  they  were  dis- 
charged with  such  consummate  ability  and  unvarying  fidelity  as  to  win 
for  the  Judge  general  approbation.  From  the  County  Court,  he  Avas 
promoted  to  the  Judgeship  of  the  Seventh  Judicial  Circuit,  then  composed 
of  eight  counties. 

He  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats,  and  the  Whigs  made  no 
nomination.  He  was  elected,  therefore,  without  opposition.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  Judge  Dickey  was  elected  at  the  first  judicial  election  held 
under  the  present  Constitution.  Prior  to  that  time,  no  judicial  offices  had 
been  filled  in  Illinois  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

This  was  the  last  public  office  ever  held  by  Judge  Dickey.  "While 
he  occupied  the  bench,  the  Seventh  Ch'cuit  was  divided,  all  the  cqunties 
except  Cook  and  Lake  being  set  off  by  themselves,  owing  to  the  great 
increase  of  legal  business  consequent  upon  the  growth  of  Chicago  and  the 
surrounding  country.     In  the  spring  of  1853,  owing  to  tlie  pressure  of 


HUGH   T.   DICKEY.  433 

his  private  business,  tlie  Judge  resigned  his  seat  on  the  beneh,  tinec  wliieh 
time  he  has  refused  all  tendei*s  of  oflficc.  He  has,  however,  continued  to 
take  a  deep  interest  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  public  welfare,  especially  of 
the  city.  The  enviable  reputation  wiiicli  he  won  as  a  Judge  will  not  soon 
be  forgotten,  but  new  lustre  has  been  tiirown  upon  his  good  name  by  the 
part  he  has  taken  in  the  noble  enterprises  which  have  contribute<l  largely 
to  the  prosperity  of  Chicago. 

Judge  Dickey  was  married,  in  1850,  to  Miss  Fanny  Russell  Dekovcn, 
daughter  of  the  late  Henry  L.  Dekoven,  of  Middletown,  Conccticut,  by 
whom  he  has  three  children  now  living — two  sons  and  one  daughter. 
He  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcojjal  Church,  sincerely 
attached  to  its  distinctive  features,  yet  free  from   all   sectarian  bigotry. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1865,  Judge  Dickey  and  family  sailed  lor 
Europe,  spending  about  two  years  in  travel  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent, but  recently  returned,  laden  w'ith  the  rich  experience  of  foreign 
travel. 

Judge  Dickey  has  never  known  the  pinchings  of  poverty ;  but  he  has 
a  heart  that  ever  kindly  warms  with  generous  pity  toward  all  mIio  stand 
in  need  of  charity.  Unostentatious  and  discriminating  in  his  bounty,  he 
is  known  as  the  liberal  friend  of  the  poor,  and  of  every  worthy  object  of 
public  charity. 


JAMES  AV.  SHEAHAN. 


I 


(B 


James  W.  Sheahan,  who  is  widely  known  in  the  West,  both  from 
his  intimate  association  with  Judge  Douglas  and  his  long  connection  with 
the  newspaper  interests  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
February  22,  1824.  His  parents  were  Irish,  and  the  son  started  upon  his 
career  with  few  advantages  beyond  the  gifts  with  which  nature  had 
endowed  him.  His  education  was  received  at  the  Jesuit  School  in 
Frederick,  Maryland,  and  in  1845  he  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of  the 
law  in  the  Federal  Courts  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  law,  how- 
ever, was  not  suited  to  his  taste,  and  he  commenced  the  study  of  reporting, 
and  for  many  years  reported  Congressional  proceedings  for  the  press  of  the 
District  and  the  New  York  Associated  Press,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation 
for  his  future  journalistic  success. 

In  1854,  he  was  induced  to  come  to  Chicago  to  publish  a  Democratic 
paper.  He  established  the  "Chicago  Times"  in  the  mouth  of  August 
of  that  year,  and  at  once  made  it  not  only  a  local  power,  but  the  organ  of 
Democracy  in  the  Northwest.  With  the  aid  of  able  assistants,  although 
competing  with  other  papers  which  had  the  advantage  of  age,  he  made  a 
prominent  place  for  it  as  a  newspaper,  and  secured  for  it  a  wide  circu- 
lation. The  energy  witli  which  it  advocated  the  Democratic  cause,  and 
the  advancement  which  it  secured  for  Judge  Douglas,  are  well  known  in 
the  West.  From  1854  to  1860,  scarcely  a  Democrati(r  canvass,  caucus  or 
convention  was  held  tliat  did  not  show  the  m;irks  of  Mr.  Sheahan's 
labors;  and  few  men  ever  emerged  from  such  political  experience  with  so 
many  friends.  During  all  this  period  of  political  and  editorial  labor — 
and  few  but  those  who  have  experienced  it,  can  imagine  how  toilsome 
and  exhausting  editorial  labor   is — he   found  time  to  dcvott-  himsi'If  to 


436  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

miscellaneous  literary  work,  to  addresses  before  literary  societies,  and  to 
the  preparation  of  a  very  comprehensive  biography  of  Senator  Douglas, 
which  was  published  by  the  Messrs.  Harper  in  1860. 

In  July,  1860,  after  having  firmly  established  the  "Times,"  he  sold  it 
to  Mr.  McCormick,  and  in  the  following  December,  with  his  former  staff  of 
writers,  commenced  the  "Post,"  which  in  turn  he  sold  to  the  "Republican" 
Company  in  April,  1865.  He  remained  in  the  office,  however,  during  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Dana,  and  wlien  that  gentleman  left  the  paper,  Mr. 
Sheahan  accepted  an  editorial  position  on  the  "  Tribune,"  which  he  still 
retains. 

As  an  editorial  writer,  Mr.  Sheahan  has  few  equals.  His  powers  of 
mind  are  very  versatile,  and  no  subject,  from  the  most  abstruse  financial 
theory  or  political  question,  to  a  mere  sketch,  comes  amiss  to  him.  He 
has  acquired  that  most  important  element  of  editorial  success,  the  faculty 
of  writing,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  upon  any  topic  current  with  the 
people.  And  on  every  topic  lie  writes  with  equal  happiness  and  ease  of 
style.  He  is  concise  and  argumentativ^e  in  statement,  and  tlioroughly 
logical  in  treatment,  and  with  these  positive  i)t)wer,s,  ho  blends  playful 
humor,  keen  recognition  of  shams,  and  at  times,  strong  invective  and  sar- 
casm. If  any  species  of  writing  may  be  caHed  his  forte,  it  is  biographical 
analysis.  Few  political  opponents,  or  few  society  snobs  or  shams  of  any 
description,  would  care  to  be  dissected  with  his  worse  than  surgical  pea. 
In  all  respects,  the  press  of  the  country  can  scarcely  boast  a  more  accom- 
plished writer. 

In  personal  appearance,  Mr,  Sheahan  is  of  medium  height,  compactly 
built,  naturally  light  complexion,  with  a  smiling,  genial  face,  and  a 
brusque,  off-hand,  but  always  polite  manner.  In  dress,  he  is  rather  care- 
less, and  pays  little  attention  to  the  prevailing  characteristics  of  fashion. 
Mr.  Sheahan  is  married  and  has  six  livino-  children. 


JONATHAN  ADAMS  ALLEN. 


Jonathan  Adams  Allen,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  who  is  well  known  here 
as  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical 
^Medicine  in  Rnsli  Medical  College,  Avas  born  in  Middlebury,  Vermont, 
January  16,  1825.  His  maternal  ancestors  came  over  from  England  in 
the  ]\Iayflower,  in  1620,  and  his  paternal  ancestors  came  from  AVales,  in 
1634.  He  is  connected,  collaterally,  with  the  celebrated  Adams  family, 
Avhence  is  derived  the  christian  name.  His  father  was  for  many  years 
among  the  most  widely  known  and  distinguished  amongst  the  professional 
men  of  New  England,  both  as  a  i)hysician  and  surgeon,  and  as  a  savan 
long  and  intimately  associated  Avitli  the  elder  Professor  Silliman  and 
Professor  Beck  in  the  ardent  study  and  development  of  natural  sciences. 
He  was  for  many  years  a  Professor  in  the  Castleton  Medical  College,  and 
afterwards  in  the  chair  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  History  in  ^Middleljury 
College,  A'ermout.  Many  of  his  then  pu])ils  arc  now  residents  in  Chicago 
and  throughout  the  Northwest,  and  each  cherishes  profound  respect  for 
his  memory. 

The  son,  whose  biogra})hy  we  have  undertaken  to  sketch,  was,  in 
accordance  with  the  injurious  system  which  then  prevailed,  i)repared  for 
admission  to  college  at  the  early  age  of  nine  years.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
his  health  failed,  and  speedy  decline  was  anticipated.  For  this  reason,  he 
was  placed  by  his  father  on  a  farm,  where  he  was  re(|uircd  to  labor  during 
six  months  of  each  year,  attending  tlie  aaideiiiy  during  the  winter  season. 
By  this  regimen,  and  subsequent  habits  of  active  exen-ise,  lie  acquired  a 
robust  and  powerful  physique,  which  has  enabled  him  to  endure  an  amount 
of  physical  and  mental  toil  which  would  tax  tlie  ])owers  of  two  or  three 
persons  of  ordinary  constitution. 


438  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

At  sixteen  he  entered  college,  and  henceforth  devoted  himself  to  study, 
diversified  by  teaching  school  during  the  winter's  vacation,  reading  med- 
icine, pursuing  practical  anatomy,  and  visiting  patients  with  his  father. 
He  graduated  in  1845  as  A.  B.,  and  in  December,  1846,  as  M.  D. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1847,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Marsh, 
of  Kalamazoo,  Michigan.  He  visited  his  first  patient  in  Michigan  the 
ensuing  day,  and  from  that  period  to  the  present  time  he  has  been  engaged 
in  professional  duties,  with  scant  and  rare  vacations. 

The  succeeding  year,  February,  1848,  he  was  elected  Professor  of 
Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics  and  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  Indiana 
Medical  College,  at  Laj^orte,  then  a  flourishing  institution  of  over  a 
hundred  students.  He  gave  two  winter  and  one  spring  course  of  lectures 
in  this  college,  the  latter  at  Lafayette.  While  still  holding  this  position, 
he  was  elected  Professor  of  Physiology  and  Pathology  in  the  Medical 
Department,  by  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  of  Michigan, 
which  position  he  filled  for  four  sessions,  in  addition  to  his  already 
laborious  duties  of  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  etc.  In  the  organization 
of  the  Medical  Department,  Dr.  Allen  Avas  immediately  concerned.  Its 
early  history  was  marked  by  rare  success,  and  its  subsequent  career  and 
present  position  fully  substantiate  the  wisdom  which  characterized  its 
inception;  and  it  is  not  invidious  to  say  that  to  Dr.  Allen  belongs  a  large 
share  of  the  merit  which  was  evinced  in  its  subsequent  prosperity.  He 
drafted  the  primary  announcement,  and  his  counsels  and  suggestions  in 
the  Faculty  were  ahvays  heard  with  attention,  and  seldom  neglected. 

On  the  re-organization  of  the  University,  in  1854,  at  the  request  of 
the  Board  of  Regents,  he  drafted  the  general  plan  of  the  Literary  Depart- 
ment, which  has  since  been  in  the  main  adopted  and  carried  out  in  detail. 
Unfortunately,  this  paper,  in  connection  witli  other  circumstances,  unneces- 
sary here  to  be  mentioned,  gave  offense  to  the  newly-elected  Chancellor 
of  the  University,  and  ultimately  led  to  Professor  Allen's  disconnection 
with  the  University. 

Soon  after  this,  he  returned  to  Kalamazoo  and  engaged  ag-ain  in 
active  practice,  until  September,  1859.  During  this  period  he  was  largely 
engaged  in  literary  pursuits,  writing  for  magazines  and  professional 
journals — in  the  former  case,  under  a  widely-known  nom  de  plume,  which 
still  remains  in  xmibra.  He  was  appointed  Lecturer  on  Physiology  and 
Chemistry  in  Kalamazoo  College,  and  also  gave  almost  innumerable 
addresses  before  lyceums,  colleges  and  agricultural  fairs.     These  desultory 


,         JONATHAN    ADAMS   ALLEN.  439 

efforts,  many  of  which  were  published,  would,  if  collected,  make  a  large 
volume,  and,  as  he  never  makes  use  of  the  same  address  or  essay  twice, 
involved  an  amount  of  labor  which,  in  addition  to  his  other  employments, 
niade  up  an  account  of  industry  rarely  to  be  surpassed. 

Whilst  in  Kalamazoo,  Dr.  Allen  became  very  much  interested  in 
Masonry,  occupyinii;  many  distintrnishcd  iNFasonic  positions — W,  M.,  E.  C, 
Deputy  G.  M.,  and,  in  1859,  M.  A\'.  Grand  Master  of  the  State.  On  his 
removal  to  Chicago,  the  Grand  Lodge  testified  their  appreciation  of  his 
services  by  a  series  of  resolutions  of  a  highly  complimentary  character, 
and  voted  him  an  elegant  jewel.  Since  that  period  he  has  occupied  no 
official  position  in  the  order,  but  has  manifested  his  zeal  for  its  interests 
by  numerous  published  essays  and  addresses. 

After  declining  very  many  offers  of  chairs  in  medical  colleges  in 
difllerent  sections  of  the  Union,  in  1859  he  was  induced,  by  the  late 
Professor  Daniel  Brainard,  M.  D.,  to  accept  the  position  which  he  now 
holds  in  Rush  Medical  College,  an  institution  which  now  ranks  among 
the  first,  in  point  of  numbers  and  repute,  in  the  United  States. 

In  his  profession.  Dr.  Allen  ranks  with  the  foremost,  and  has  received 
many  of  its  highest  honors.  He  is  a  permanent  member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  and,  in  January,  1858,  was  elected  President  of  the 
State  Medical  Society  of  Michigan.  In  January,  1859,  he  pronounced 
the  annual  address  before  the  society  at  Lansing,  on  which  occasion  the 
Legislature  and  the  Supreme  Court  did  him  the  honor  to  adjourn  their 
sessions,  and  the  former  tendered  the  Capitol  for  the  occasion.  The 
address  attracted  large  attention,  and  received  the  unusual  compliment  of 
being  published  as  a  valuable  public  paper,  by  the  Legislature. 

Amongst  the  mass  of  professional  pa})ers  written  by  Dr.  Allen,  imnc, 
perhaps,  have  attracted  wider  attention  than  those  upon  the  "Mechanism 
of  Nervous  Action,"  which  claim  to  antedate  generalizations  previously 
claimed  by  INIarshall  Hall  and  other  distinguished  jihysiologists.  On  this 
point  we  simply  quote  from  the  Introductory  Address  of  the  eminent 
Professor  of  Surgery  in  Hush  Medical  College,  Moses  Gunn,  M.  D., 
October  2,1867: 

"It  is  within  the  knowledge  of  your  speaker  that  the  whole  subject 
of  reflex  nervous  influence,  of  which  excito-motery  and  excito-sccretory 
actions  are  l)ut  constituent  parts,  was  taught  as  early  as  1850,  in  the 
University  of  Michigan,  by  the  ])resent  incumbent  of  the  chair  of  Practice 
of  Medicine  in  this  institution,  Professor  Allen.      In  his  teachings  and 


440  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

writings,  too,  are  to  be  found  the  only  explicit  and  comprehensive 
exposition  of  the  whole  subject  of  reflex-nervous  action  that  has  ever 
fallen  under  my  observation." 

Dr.  Allen  has  also  gained  large  acquaintance  by  his  frequent  connection 
with  cases  in  the  courts,  involving  questions  in  medical  jurisprudence. 
Very  few  such  cases  of  any  importance  are  put  on  trial  without  his 
services  being  secured,  either  as  counsel  or  witness. 

He  edits  the  "Chicago  Medical  Journal,"  a  periodical  having  a  larger 
circulation  than  any  other  professional  journal  west  of  the  Atlantic  cities. 
The  present  year — 1867 — he  has  published  a  book  on  "Medical  Exam- 
inations for  Life  Insurance,"  which  has  run  through  four  editions  in  as 
many  months.  It  is  understood  that  he  has  now  nearly  in  readiness  for 
publication  a  full  and  systematic  treatise  on  the  "Principles  and  Practice 
of  Medicine." 

A  former  colleague  writes:  "As  a  scholar,  Dr.  Allen  takes  a  liigli 
position.  He  is  extensively  read  in  both  professional  and  general 
literature,  and  while  to  his  friends  he  manifests  a  love  for  metaphysics 
strongly  tinctured  with  Genuan  transcendentalism,  he  is  as  practical  as  the 
most  utilitarian  can  desire.  He  is  eminently  progressive  in  his  views, 
and,  in  consequence,  has  frequently  called  down  upon  his  head  the 
anathemas  of  so-called  conservatives.  He  is  an  industrious  student,  and 
for  the  purposes  of  writing  and  study  encroaches  largely  upon  the  night, 
and  never  wastes  time.  Systematic  in  reading,  he  indexes  everything  of 
importance,  keeps  files  of  all  correspondence,  copies  of  all  letters  and 
manuscripts  for  publication,  and  can  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night  place 
his  hand  upon  any  document  in  his  custody." 

The  "Peninsula  and  Independent  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal," 
(of  Detroit,)  on  his  removal  to  Chicago,  in  1859,  remarked  thus: 

"As  a  scientific  lecturer,  he  is,  in  our  judgment,  unsurpassed;  at 
least,  it  has  never  l)een  our  fortune  to  listen  to  his  superior.  His  lectures 
are  always  strong,  clear  and  convincing.  His  style  is  terse  and  axiomic. 
Conceiving  in  his  own  mind  a  clear  and  definite  idea  of  the  subject  under 
consideration,  separating  truth  from  error,  and  reducing  facts  to  general 
philosophy,  lie  never  fails  to  present  truth  with  a  clear  and  ])old  outline, 
and  in  a  highly  assimilative  form.  His  acquisition  is  fortunate  for  Push 
Medical  College;  and  while  we  regret  that  Dr.  Allen  leaves  Michigan, 
we  can  but  cofnmend  the  sagacity  which  secures  his  services,  and  express 
our  sincerest  wishes  for  liis  personal  welfare," 


MARTO  11.  M.  AVALLACE. 


Beeyet  Brigadier-General  jNIartin  R.  M.  Wallace  is  one  of 
the  few  residents  of  Chicago  who  can  boast  of  Western  birth.  He  was  born 
at  Urbana,  Champaign  County,  Ohio,  September  29,  1829.  His  parents, 
like  many  of  the  Western  pioneers,  have  literally  fulfilled  the  scriptural 
injunction,  to  multiply  and  replenii^h  the  earth,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
being  the  fourth  son  and  eighth  child.  His  father,  John  AVallacc,  nuived 
with  his  large  family  to  Illinois  in  1834,  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  La  Salle 
County.  Here  young  AVallace  received  the  rudiments  of  his  education, 
attending  school  in  the  winter  and  working  on  the  farm  in  spring,  summer 
and  autumn.  The  physical  part  of  his  education  was,  although  insensibly 
to  him,  of  great  importance.  The  active,  severe  out-door  labors  of  the 
farm,  and  the  adventures  of  pioneer  life,  laid  the  foundation  of  muscle, 
bone  and  sinew,  and  created  in  him  powers  of  endurance  and  a  contempt 
of  danger  which  afterwards  were  of  great  service  to  him. 

In  1839,  his  father  moved  with  his  family  to  Ogle  County,  and  settled 
on  a  farm  near  ^Mount  ^lorris,  the  site  of  the  Rock  River  Seminary.  His 
flither,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  for  many  years  antecedent,  was 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  that  institution,  and  a  leading 
member  of  the  :^[etho(list  Church.  Young  Wallace  received  his  education 
in  that  institution,  stiulying  in  the  winter,  and  working  in  the  summer. 
His  father  died  September  29,  1850,  the  day  :Martin  attained  his  majority, 
leaving  on  his  son's  hands  a  large  family  to  support,  and  a  very  compli- 
cated estate  to  settle,  which,  to  the  surprise  of  neighbors  and  creditoi-s,  he 
closed  up,  ])aving  every  dollar,  and  showing  unusual  tact  in  one  so 
young — especially  in  one  who  had  not  as  yet  mingled  extensively  with  the 
business  world. 


442  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  affairs,  having  chosen  the  law  as  his  future 
profession,  he  entered  the  office  of  Dickey  &  Wallace,  at  Ottawa,  Illinois, 
as  a  student.  The  firm  were  Hon.  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  afterwards  Colonel  of 
the  Fourth  Illinois  Cavalry,  well  known  in  the  legal,  political  and 
military  circles  of  the  State,  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  his  brother.  Colonel 
of  the  Eleventh  Illinois  Infantry,  and  afterwards  Brigadier-General,  who 
fell  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  April  6,  1862.  Each  of  these  gentlemen  were 
eminent  lawyers  in  the  higher  courts  of  the  State  at  that  time,  and  were 
prominently  identified  with  all  the  great  public  movements  of  the  day. 
Under  their  care  and  tuition,  young  Wallace  made  rapid  progress  in  his 
law  studies,  was  speedily  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in  January,  1856, 
removed  to  Chicago,  Avhere  he  engaged  in  active  practice,  in  partnership 
Avith  Thomas  Dent,  Esq. 

From  that  time,  until  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  he  followed  the 
routine  of  the  law  at  the  Chicago  Bar.  He  was  naturally  active,  restless 
and  nervous,  and  at  the  first  gun  in  the  conflict  he  dropped  briefs  and 
pleas  to  take  the  sword,  and  exchanged  the  monotony  and  teclinicalities  of 
the  attorney's  life  for  the  excitement  and  danger  of  the  field  and  camp. 
He  assisted  in  the  recruiting  and  organization  of  the  Fourth  Illinois 
Cavalry,  and  in  October,  1861,  received  a  commission  as  Major  of  that 
regiment.  He  commanded  one  of  the  battalions  through  the  terrific 
battles  of  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  and  in  December, 
1862,  assumed  command  of  the  regiment,  on  the  death  of  the  gallant  and 
lamented  Colonel  William  ]\IcCullough.  This  position  he  retained 
throughout  the  war,  displaying  not  only  the  most  signal  and  devoted 
gallantry  as  a  soldier,  but  remarkable  executive  ability  for  one  brought 
up  to  the  labors  of  a  farm  and  the  studious  seclusion  of  professional  life. 
In  January,  1863,  he  was  promoted  to  the  Lieutenant-Colonelcy,  and,  in 
March  of  the  same  year,  to  the  Colonelcy.  At  the  close  of  his  military 
career  he  received  from  the  President,  as  a  testimonial  of  his  gallantry  and 
valuable  personal  services  in  the  field,  a  complimentary  commission  as 
Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Reverend  Dr.  T.  M.  Eddy,  in  his  "  Patriotism  of  Illinois,"  speaking 
of  General  Wallace,  says: 

"  In  August,  1861,  General  Wallace  assisted  in  the  organization  of  the  Fourth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  and  in  October  was  mustered  into  the  service  as  Major  of  that  regiment. 
Major  Wallace  commanded  his  battalion  during  the  march  and  transportation  of  his 
regiment  from  its  camp  of  rendezvous  to  Cairo,  and  thence  through  the  battles  of  Fort 


MARTIN    R.   M.    \\'ALI,A(^E.  44.3 

Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh  and  Corinth,  and  in  December,  180li,  upon  llie  death  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  William  McCuUough,  assumed  command  of  the  regiment,  and  con- 
tinued in  command  until  his  regiment  was  mustered  out  in  November,  1804.  During 
his  term  of  service.  Colonel  Wallace  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  with 
whom  he  was  thrown  in  contact,  serving  under  and  being  frequently  near  Generals 
Grant,  Sherman,  McPherson,  Logan,  McClernand,  Hurlburt,  A.  J.  Smith,  and  the  young 
hero.  Ransom.  Colonel  Wallace  passed  through  the  battles  of  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson, 
Shiloh,  the  siege  of  Corinth,  the  pursuit  of  the  Confederate  General  Earl  Van  Dorn,  the 
battles  at  Grenada,  Panola,  Canton  and  Natchez,  and  numerous  skirmishes ;  and  after 
his  muster  out  received  from  the  President  a  complimentary  commission  as  Brevet 
Brigadier-G  eneraL ' ' 

This  sketch  of  the  military  career  of  General  Wallace  would  be 
incomplete  without  the  publication  of  the  following  letter  from  Adjutant- 
General  Fuller,  which  .shows  his  magnanimous  and  generous  character, 
and  is  a  deserved  tribute  to  his  qualities  as  a  gentleman  and  a  soldier: 

"General  Head  Quarters,  Adjutant-Geneeal's  Office, 
"Springfield,  November  13,  1862. 
"  Major  M.  R.  M.  Wallace,  4th  Cavalrt: 

^^Major: — Your  communication  under  date  of  the  8th  instant,  addressed  to  Hon, 
S.  M.  CuUom,  has  been  handed  to  me  for  reply. 

•'The  high-toned,  modest  and  unusual  character  of  your  letter  attracts  my  attention, 
and  I  esteem  it  a  personal  favor  to  give  it  my  unqualified  approbation.  No  man  who 
can  write  such  a  letter  will  fail  to  be  appreciated  by  his  friends  and  the  country, 
and  the  example  you  set  in  this  letter  deserves  to  be  followed. 

"  The  simple  truth  about  the  matter  is,  that  you  are  undoubtedly  qualified  to 
command  the  Fifty-third  or  any  other  regiment,  and  that  this  regiment  would  be 
honored  by  such  an  oflBcer  to  command  it  is  beyond  controversy.  Yet,  your  appointment 
would,  as  you  state,  be  considered  as  unjust  to  the  ofiBcers  now  in  service  in  the 
regiment. 

"  For  this  reason,  and  this  only,  the  Governor  disposed  of  the  matter  by  promoting 
according  to  General  Order  43  of  this  Department,  herewith  inclosed. 

"  I  hope,  Major,  to  meet  you  again  and  become  better  acquainted  with  you. 
"Very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Allen  C.  Fuller,  Adjutant-General." 

This  letter  hardly  needs  an  explanation  of  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  its  writing.  Its  general  terms  are  suflficient  to  indicate  the  high 
esteem  in  which  General  Wallace  was  held  by  the  State  authorities. 

Although  in  no  sense  of  the  word  an  active  politician,  after  the  close 
of  the  war  General  Wallace  received  the  position  of  United  States 
Assessor  for  the  Chicago  District,  a  position  which  he  ha.s  .since  held, 
discharging  its  duties  with  eminent  success. 


444  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

In  personal  appearance,  General  Wallace  is  about  six  feet  in  height 
and  very  slender,  possessing,  in  fact,  a  genuine  Western  style  of  physique. 
His  face  is  a  very  pleasant  one,  and  full  of  expression,  and  his  manner 
oif-hand  and  jovial.  He  has  little  to  say,  but  that  little  is  marked  by 
eminent  good  sense.  In  his  dress  he  is  rather  careless  as  to  personal 
appearance,  although  always  neat,  but  his  personal  independence  makes 
him  regardless  of  fashion. 


ZEPHANIAII  M.  HUMPHREY. 


Those  who  are,  by  common  consent,  rather  than  by  common  sense, 
regarded  as  "  self-made  men,"  monopolize  the  biographical  literature  of 
this  country.  The  booksellers'  shelves  groan  under  a  burthen  of  biogra- 
phies whose  subjects  are  paraded  as  having  achieved  distinction  without 
education,  and  attained  to  a  "  career,"  in  spite  of  every  disadvantage  in 
early  life,  so  tliat  a  stranger  in  the  land  would  be  divided  between  admir- 
ation for  our  zeal  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  astonishment  at  the 
vanity  we  show  over  our  ill-educated  public  men. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  narrative  had  every  "early,"  as  well 
as  later  advantage,  and  yet,  unlike  many  of  Avliom  the  same  may  be  said, 
his  life  has  been  a  fine  success.  The  number  of  those  who  succeed  in  life 
in  spite  of  their  early  opportunities  is  not  less,  certainly,  than  the  number 
of  those  who  make  life  a  success,  notwithstanding  the  deprivations  with 
which  it  was  begun.  A  deprivation  is  not  necessarily  a  disadvantage, 
while  what  are  ordinarily  set  down  as  advantages  may  be  insuperable 
obstacles.  If  storms  appal,  it  is  no  less  true  tiiat  they  make  the  traveler 
improve  his  pace,  and  if  sunshine;  ministers  to  growth,  it  also  ministei's 
to  lassitude  and  idleness. 

Zephaniah  M.  Humphrey  was  the  youngest  of  the  sons  of  the 
late  Dr.  Ileman  Humphrey,  who  was  for  upwards  of  twenty  years  the 
President  of  Amherst  College.  He  was  born  Imrd  by  that  venerable 
seat  of  learning,  on  the  30tli  of  August,  1824.  Another  of  these  sons  is 
the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  recently 
Professor  in  the  Tlieological  Seminary  at  Danville,  Kentucky,  and  another 
was  the  late  Hon.  James  Humphrey,  (»f  lirooklyn.  New  York. 

It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  of  more  propitious  circumstances  than  those 


446  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

under  which  the  boy  grew  up.  His  young  eyes  feasted  on  the  delightful 
scenery  of  the  Connecticut  Valley;  his  imagination  was  stimulated  by 
what  he  clearly  saw  of  the  things  that  are  made.  Fortunate  are  they 
whose  first  views  of  this  world  are  taken  from  a  spot  where  the  attractions 
of  nature  arrest  the  eye  and  impress  the  imagination.  It  is  no  mere 
sentimental  fancy  that  rural  life  ministers  to  the  purity  of  human  life,  nor 
is  the  flict  to  be  attributed  solely  to  the  absence  of  temptation  to  evil.  It 
is  traceable  no  less  to  the  potency  of  natural  scenery  in  alluring  to  reflec- 
tions of  an  elevating  sort.  If  in  the  city  iniquity  spreads  its  net  for  the 
feet  of  the  unwary,  in  the  country  virtue  is  equally  effective  in  entrapping 
the  impressible. 

The  boy  was  bred  in  the  midst  of  religious,  social,  and  intellectual 
influences,  well  calculated  to  foster  in  him  every  excellent  sentiment  and 
exhilarating  impulse.  The  father  was  a  power  in  the  church,  when  the 
youth  was  growing  into  a  man.  Refinement,  intellectuality,  and  spiritu- 
ality reigned  in  partnership  in  the  homestead. 

Of  the  father  it  was  said,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Todd,  in  a  funeral  discourse, 
"  I  never  knew  a  man  who,  in  my  estimation,  came  so  near  being  faultless." 
Nor  did  the  large  audience  present,  made  up  of  tlie  neighbors  and  com- 
panions of  the  deceased,  regard  the  remark  as  anytliing  more  than  what 
was  deserved.  Indeed,  very  few  Americans  have  left,  or  will  leave, 
behind  them  a  memory  more  reverently  treasured  tlian  that  of  President 
Humphrey.  He  was,  in  every  sense  and  in  every  detail,  a  noticeable 
and  noteworthy  character.  What  he  did  for  Amherst  College,  and  through 
it  for  the  cause  of  education ;  what  he  did  for  the  temperance  cause  and 
the  cause  of  religion,  are  a  part  of  the  history  of  New  England,  the  effect 
of  which  will  be  felt  for  many  yeans  to  come. 

And  here  we  are  reminded  of  an  anecdote,  which  is  one  among  the 
multitude  that  illustrate,  in  a  striking  way,  the  rapidity  of  growth  for 
which  Chicago  is  illustrious.  In  1840,  President  Humphrey  came  here 
on  a  visit,  and  purchased  a  few  lots  for  $800.  The  next  year  he  sold 
them  for  $2,500.  Again,  in  1850,  he  visited  Chicago,  and  put  up  at  the 
Richmond  House,  which  stood  u])on  the  lots  he  had  bought  and  sold  ten 
years  before,  and  which  he  was  now  informed  were  Avorth  $80,000! 
Whereupon  he  wrote  home  that  Providence  had  prevented  him  from 
becoming  rich  that  he  might  be  prevented  from  spoiling  his  children. 
He  was  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  education  was  the  best  inheritance,  and 
intellectual  attainments  the  most  profitable  investment. 


ZEPHANIAH   M.   HUMPHREY.  447 

And  so  it  would  hardly  he  possihle  lor  any  hut  thoiightlul,  highly- 
trained  and  well-hred  men  to  come  of  the  home  of  the  President  of 
Amherst.  The  family  could  not  hut  foci  the  imi)ress  of  such  a  head. 
Dr.  Humphrey  was  the  central  figure  of  a  social  as  well  as  an  educational 
circle,  and  they  who  were  nearest  to  him  were  most  influenced  l>y  him. 
His  children  were  nearest  to  him,  and  they  received  the  most  profound 
and  the  most  enduring  impressions  from  him. 

It  was  a  result  of  Dr.  Humphrey's  comprehensive  idea  of  education 
that  this  son  of  his,  while  quite  a  lad,  spent  several  summers  on  a  farm, 
and  there  acquired  a  physical  stiimina  of  inestimable  service  in  intellectual 
pursuits.  The  harvest-field  is  better  for  the  boy  than  the  counting-room, 
as  much  better  as  a  broNvn  face  and  a  broad  chest  are  better  than  pallid 
cheeks  and  crippled  lungs;  as  much  bettor  as  the  night  of  refreshing 
slumber  is  better  than  a  night  of  dissipation. 

Nor  should  we  fail  to  say  that  the  mother  of  our  subject  was  a  woman 
of  mark.  She  had  strength  and  tenderness  combined,  and  performed  the 
mother's  part  in  the  training  of  the  children  with  rare  skill  and  eminent 
efficiency. 

After  a  thorough  preparatory  course  of  study,  Zephaniah  entered 
Amherst  College,  in  1839,  and  went  at  the  books  set  before  him  with  such 
assiduity  and  enthusiasm  as  only  a  student  by  nature  may  show.  Foi 
students,  as  well  as  poets,  are  born,  not  made.  If  the  mind  has  not  a 
predisposition  to  studionsness,  it  Avill  apply  itself  in  vain  to  mathematical 
problems  or  metaphysical  lore.  Young  Humphrey  was  a  favorite  with 
his  fellow-students,  and  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  instructors.  To  the 
former  he  was  comi)anionable,  to  the  latter  deferential. 

He  maintained  an  excellent  standing  in  scholarship,  as  well  as  in 
deportment,  and  reached  a  good  degree  of  proficiency  in  all  branches  of 
the  curriculum.  He  excelled  in  the  iioblo  art  of  English  comjmsition, 
and  so  became  a  formidaldo  comj)otitor  in  the  contest  for  the  honors.  By 
care  and  application,  he  learned  to  write  in  the  perspicuous  and  cH'octive 
style  which  now  flows  from  his  pen  in  his  study,  and  from  his  tongue 
on  public  occasions. 

He  graduated  at  Andierst  in  1843,  and  immodiatoly  wont  and 
traded  with  his  attainments  by  teaching,  and  gained,  besides  them,  several 
attainments  more,  through  this  practical  application  of  those  he  had. 
Part  of  this  teaching  (and  learning)  was  done  in  Virginia,  near  what  is 
now  famous  as  the  battle-field  of  Manassas.     Here,  among  other  things, 


448  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

he  learned  the  difference  between  tlie  two  civilizations  that  since  came 
too-ether  in  a  combat  which  soaked  with  blood  the  "sacred  soil"  upon 
which  he  then  stood.  And  here  he  acquired  an  aversion  for  the  "  peculiar 
institution/'  which  he  has  since  taken  no  pains  to  conceal  in  pul)lic  or 
in  private. 

It  was  during  his  employment  as  a  teacher  that  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  study  for  the  ministry.  As  is  mostly  the  case  with  young  men  of 
promise  and  of  a  proper  ambition,  who  afterwards  distinguish  themselves 
in  the  pulpit,  he  went  through  college  with  a  strong  inclination  for  the 
legal  profession.  But  wlien  he  had  taught  school  for  about  three  years,  an 
impression,  which  had  long  been  A\liispering  in  his  ear,  ripened  into  a 
conviction  that  loudly  pronounced  his  work  to  be  that  of  a  preacher  of 
the  gospel.  In  ol^edience  to  this  call,  he  began  his  preparation  for  the 
ministry  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York  city,  and 
finished  it  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  where 
he  graduated  in  1849. 

Few  men  have  left  this  or  any  other  "school  of  the  prophets"  better 
endowed,  or  better  equipped  for  their  high  profession.  To  a  foundation 
laid  with  scrupulous  care,  Mr.  Humphrey  had  now  added  a  superstructure 
of  equally  well  assorted  and  well  arranged  materials.  He  was  educated 
both  in  the  useful  and  the  ornamental  branches,  and  versed  in  studies 
calculated  to  adorn,  as  well  as  in  those  suitable  for  serving  him  as  he 
went  about  his  Master's  business  among  all  classes  of  society,  from  the 
most  refined  to  the  most  debased,  and  among  all  conditions  of  those 
who  oppose  religion,  from  the  most  highly  educated  to  the  most  deeply 
plunged  in  ignorance  or  superstition. 

Immediately  upon  his  graduation  at  Andover,  Mr.  Humphrey  was 
invited  to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the  Plymouth  Congregational  Church  at 
Milwaukee,  AVisconsin,  during  the  temporary  absence  of  the  regular  pastor. 

At  the  close  of  this  engagement,  in  the  s})ring  of  1850,  he  removed  to 
Racine,  AVisconsin,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  was  installed  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  .city.  Here  he  labored  hard,  preached 
successfully,  and  grew  rapidly.  His  studious  habits  told  upon  his  sermons. 
They  increased  steadily  and  noticeable  in  richness,  freshness,  breadth  and 
power.  But  his  culture  was  without  pedantry,  his  scholarly  attainments 
without  affectation,  and  so,  while  the  cultivated  were  captivated,  the 
common  people  understood  him.  For  he  was  a  home-bred  as  well  as  a 
college-bred    man,   and   therefore   knew   by   education   how   to   use   his 


r 


ZEPHANIAII   y[.   HUMPHREY.  449 

education.  Pretension  comes  of  ill-tiaiiiiii^'  at  the  Iicartlistoiie,  «tr  <»f' 
an  ill-grained  nature  mIucIi  no  amount  of  training  can  d('j)rive  of  its 
disposition  for  parade.  Vanity  may  he  the  weakness  of  great,  hut 
never  of  Avell-hred,  minds. 

Mr.  Humphrey  used  as  not  ahusing  his  culture,  j)reaehed  Avith  his 
heart  as  well  as  his  head,  and  so  reached  the  hearts  as  well  as  the  heads  of 
his  hearers.  The  hardened  were  softened,  the  afflicted  were  comforted, 
the  sinful  were  alarmed,  the  lost  sheep  were  persuaded  back,  and  the 
hungry  at  soul  were  fed  with  the  bread  which  cometli  down  from  heaven. 

At  the  end  of  six  years  from  his  settlement  in  Racine,  he  accepted  the 
unanimous  call  of  the  church  in  Milwaukee  which  he  had  served  first  on 
coming  West,  and  which  was  now  without  a  pastor,  and  which  in  its 
destitution  thought  first  of  the  young  man  whose  brief  term  of  service 
was  indelibly  impressed  upon  its  memory. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1853,  he  was  married  to  Miss  H.  L.  Sykes,  at 
Westfield,  New  York. 

In  1859,  Dr.  Humphrey  became  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Chicago,  and  at  that  high  post  he  remains  to  this  day,  having 
celebrated  the  eighth  anniversary  of  his  pastorate  in  this  city  on  the 
seventh  of  last  June.  These  eight  years  in  Chicago  have  been  years  of 
great  things  in  leadership  and  generalship.  During  tliat  time,  the  cluuch 
has  subscribed  to  all  purposes  two  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars, 
and  has  added  to  itself  scores  yearly  of  such  as  should  be  saved. 
Fifty-three  thousand  dollars  were  subscribed  for  benevolent  objects, 
church  improvements,  and  the  erection  of  a  new  mission  chapel,  during 
the  year  ending  with  last  June. 

Dr.  Humphrey  received  his  honorary  title  of  Biciiutntis  Doctor  from 
the  University  of  Chicago,  in  1864,  and  from  his  Alma  Mater,  Amherst 
College,  in  the  following  year,  a  double  recognition  of  scholai-ship  and 
services  that  has  contributed  greatly  to  the  honorable  name  for  eloquence 
and  efficiency  which  has  been  earned  by  the  pulpit  of  Chicago. 

He  is  now  in  the  midst  of  his  days— if,  fortunately  for  us  all,  his  days 
shall  be  of  the  number  allotted  in  the  scriptures— a  man  with  the  narrow 
face  of  the  scholar,  but  witli  the  broad,  warm  heart  (.f  one  who  has  been 
with  Jesus,  and  has  learned  of  Him  to  be  kindly  allcctloned  toward  all 
mankind,  not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  shouhl  come 
and  live.  He  has  the  manners  of  a  modest  gentleman,  and,  although 
not  lacking  in  firmness,  exhibits  in  all  his  intercourse  with  men,  whether 


450  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

his  peers  or  his  inferiors,  a  disposition  to  esteem  others  better  than 
himself,  and  to  hear  with  deference  all  they  have  to  say  in  criticism  or 
counsel . 

Like  old  Dr.  Beecher  and  the  Apostles  of  old,  the  serious  business  of 
his  life  is  fishing  for  men,  while  he  occasionally  finds  recreation  in  fishing 
for  trout.  He  spends  his  vacations  at  the  secluded  brookside,  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  wearisomely  fashionable  seaside.  As  he  sets  out  upon  one  of 
these  seasons  of  respite  and  recreation,  we  close  this  outline  of  his  character 
and  history,  praying  that  his  health  may  be  always  equal  to  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  sacred  office  which  the  church  has  given  him,  where  the  city 
would  keep  him,  and  wherein  he  has  been  greatly  blessed. 


GEOKGE  P.  UPTON. 


If  it  be  true  that  poets  arc  born,  not  nuule,  it  is  equally  true  of 
journalists.  Education  may  tlo  nnicii  for  tiicin  in  widening  the  area 
of  their  efficiency,  or  sharpening  the  point  of  the  weapon  wielded;  but 
the  true  newspaper  man  is  a  production  of  Nature  in  thc.<e  latter  days, 
and  the  fruit  of  her  best  experiences.  Whether  it  be  his  province,  as  a 
feuilletonist,  to  shoot  folly  on  the  wing;  as  a  news-gatherer,  to  draw  the 
thousands  of  daily  facts  into  his  net;  as  an  editor,  to  marshal  and  arrange 
with  lightning  speed;  as  a  word-painter,  to  depict  and  ex[)lain;  as  a 
reviewer,  to  deduce  conclusions;  as  a  "leader,"  to  battle  against  error  or 
direct  public  opinion;  as  any  (tr  all  of  these,  and  much  more,  the  weapon 
or  tool  placed  in  his  hands  is  Titanic  in  its  proportions,  and  requires  the 
strength  of  the  mental  giant  to  handle  it  to  advantage.  The  journalistic 
plume  mav  be  assumed  by  the  ordinary  man,  but  the  weapon  turns  in  his 
fingers,  and,  sooner  or  later,  Ik;  follows  the  exanqile  of  J)ogi)erry  and  is 
written  down  an  ass. 

The  real  journalist,  like  the  painter  or  nnisieian,  is  one  from  his  cradle. 
The  juvenile  inspiration  which  lisi)s  in  luimbers  grows  with  his  growth 
and  strengthens  with  his  strength,  until  the  i)eriod  of  nature's  decay. 
Those  on  whom  the  journalistic  (ifflatm  alights  during  the  years  of 
maturity,  shine  but  transiently;  their  light  soon  goes  out  in  darkness. 
The  endurance  of  journalistic  force  is  oidy  found  wlu-re  inltred;  the 
universality  of  vision,  accuracy  of  perception,  rapidity  of  ai)preciation, 
quickness  of  judgment,  fluency  of  thought  and  continuity  of  energy 
required  on  the  daily  newspaper  are  sut  (/cneris. 

George  Putnam  Upton  is  one  of  those  men  who  were  born  tor  the 
newspaper — cut  out  by  the  hand  of  Dame  Nature  to  observ*'  tiie  doings 


462  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  his  fellow-mortals,  and  wnrite  of  them  daily  for  the  informatitin, 
instruction,  edification  and  amusement  of  the  masses.  He  commenced  as 
a  schoolboy,  and  has  continued  as  a  man,  being  now  in  the  zenith  of  his  , 
power,  full  of  mental  vigor  and  ready  originality,  wdiile  many  of  those 
who  started  with  him  in  the  active  career  have  ceased  to  write  because 
exhausted — pumped  dry — by  that  incessant  suction  which  soon  tells  the 
difference  between  the  well  filled  by  surface  water  and  that  supplied  by 
the  living  spring.  After  many  years .  of  exhaustive  effort,  his  thoughts 
still  flow  forth  full,  free,  fresh,  original,  as  at  first,  while  his  style  has 
been  improved  and  his  knowledge  increased  since  then  by  exercise  and 
experience. 

George  P.  Upton  was  born  October  25,  1834,  at  Roxbury,  Massachu- 
setts, a  near  suburb  of  Boston.  His  parents  were  of  JSTew  England 
origin,  and  in  comfortable  circumstances.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
entered  the  Roxbury  Latin  School,  probably  the  oldest  school  in  the 
United  States,  and  fitted  himself  for  college.  He  entered  Brown  Univer- 
sity September  6,  1850,  the  late  Dr.  ^Wiyland  being  then  President, 
and  graduated  with  high  honor  September  6,  1854,  being  class  poet. 
Immediately  after  graduating,  he  undertook  the  charge  of  a  school  at 
Plymouth,  jNlassachusctts,  but  finding  it  uncongenial  to  his  tastes,  he 
resigned  after  one  term,  and  thus  quickly  concluded  his  efforts  in  the  only 
department  of  labor  outside  of  journalism  in  which  he  ever  engaged. 

Mr.  Upton  very  early  exhibited  a  decided  penchant  for  writing,  and, 
unlike  the  efforts  of  most  young  writers,  his  productions  were  at  once 
recognized  as  valuable,  because  practical.  While  in  college  he  wrote 
numerous  short  essays,  poems  and  stories,  which  were  published  in 
"Dow's  (Boston)  Waverley  jNIagazine,"  the  usual  first  resort  for  fledgling 
writers.  He  next  wrote  some  serial  stories  for  "  Gleason's  Pictorial,"  the 
pioneer  of  the  illustrated  papers  of  the  United  States,  and  for  the  "Flag 
of  Our  Union,"  a  weekly  paper  also  published  in  Boston.  These  were 
followed  by  a  long  serial  i)ublished  in  the  "Boston  Pilot,"  a  Catholic 
paper,  which  elicited  warm  encomiums  and  fully  established  his  reputation 
as  an  able  writer. 

In  the  autumn  of  1855,  just  after  he  had  attained  his  majority,  he 
joined  the  "innumerable  caravan"  then  setting  westward,  and  came  to 
Chicago.  Within  two  days  of  the  time  he  arrived  in  the  city,  he  struck 
the  newspaper  mine,  in  one  or  other  of  whose  veins  he  has  since  labored 
so  successfully.     He  became  reporter  on  the  "Daily  jSTative  Citizen,"  a 


GEORGE   P.    UPTON.  ,  453 

Know-]Sothmg  paper,  then  owned  hy  Siincon  1>.  JhuUiKT,  a  cilizeii  ot 
Chicago,  who  lias  since  made  hini.-^elt'  notorions  as  a  General  in  the  relxd 
service.  The  "Citizen"  was  published  by  W.  \V.  Daneidiower,  one  of  the 
pioneer  booksellers  of  Chicago,  whose  store  was  then  in  the  old  Saloon 
buildings  on  the  site  of  the  present  telegraj)!!  office.  The  paper  was 
issued  from  Ernst  Prussing's  real  estate  buildings,  then  standing  on  the 
spot  now  occupied  by  the  Sherman  House.  The  principal  editors  of  the 
"Citizen"  were  Washington  Wright,  recently  deceased  in  California,  and 
William  H.  Merriam,  late  of  the  "Xew  York  Herald."  The  paper  had 
but  a  weakly  existence,  its  leading  editors  were  erratic,  and  during  the 
absence  of  the  publisher  John  Phcenix-ised  it  by  changing  its  tone  from 
Know-Xothing  to  Whig.  From  Whig  it  changed  to  Democratic,  and 
then  returned  to  Know-Xothingism.  It  struy-gled  along;  for  some  time  in 
mortal  combat  Avith  the  dread  disease,  impecuniosity,  and  at  last  yielded 
up  the  ghost.  Mr.  Upton  was  connected  with  it  but  a  little  while,  and 
quitted  it  before  the  final  crash;  he  was  not,  therefore,  injured  by  the 
collapse. 

The  year  1855  was  yet  unexpired,  though  flickering  in  its  socket,  when 
he  accepted  the  position  of  c(Kuniercial  reporter  for  the  "Chicago  Evening 
Journal,"  and  in  that  capacity  attended  the  daily  sessions  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  in  a  small  room  on  Dearborn  street,  between  Lake  and  South 
Water.  He  soon  after  added  to  these  duties  those  of  local  reporter,  and 
formed  the  first  distinctive  local  column  in  the  city,  covering  the  same 
general  ground  in  the  two  departments  as  is  now  occupied  on  a  morning 
paper  by  ten  men.    . 

Mr.  Upton  was  soon  known  as  a  valuable  writer-up  of  local  Lncidcnts, 
his  narrations  being  full  as  to  facts,  and  the  lan<ruage  happily  chosen. 
He  paid  jiarticular  attention  to  musical  matters,  writing  the  first  real 
criticisms  on  musical  performances  which  ever  appeared  in  a  Chicago 
[taper.  He  has  continued  these  criticisms  to  the  i)rcsent  day,  and  has 
made  his  influence  widely  felt,  in  pointing  out  faults  and  abuses.  While 
on  the  "Journal,"  he  also  commenced  the  publication  of  the  celebrated 
"Gunnybags"  letters,  which  were  continued  weekly  for  several  years,  and 
kej)t  up  their  interest  to  the  last.  He  distinguished  himself,  too,  on  the 
"Journal,"  by  the  publication  of  tlie  very  full  re])orts  of  the  celebrated 
Burch  trial,  which  apjx'arcd  in  that  pajxT,  and  aid('<l  very  much  by  his 
letters  in  moulding  the  public  opinion  on  the  side  of  I\Irs.  Burch. 

In   the   autumn    of  18G0,  he   took   the   local   chair  of  the   "Chicago 


454  BK)GEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Tribune/'  and  filled  that  position  with  marked  ability.  In  the  spring  of 
1862,  he  went  South  as  war  correspondent  for  the  "Tribune,"  and 
accompanied  the  Union  fleet  from  Cairo  to  Memphis,  writing  up  the 
accounts  of  the  capture  of  Columbus,  IS'ew  Madrid,  Island  Number  Ten, 
Fort  Pillow,  &c.  He  was  compelled  by  sickness  to  return,  and  then 
resumed  his  position  as  city  editor  of  the  "  Tribune,"  which  he  held  till 
about  the  midsummer  of  1863,  when  he  married,  and  took  the  position 
of  news  editor.  He  filled  that  position  till  very  recently,  when  he  threw 
aside  the  more  mechanical  part  of  his  labors  for  the  critical.  He  is  now 
the  musical,  art  and  dramatic  critic,  and  reviewer  of  books  for  the 
"Tribune" — a  position  for  which  he  is  as  well  qualified,  by  nature  and 
education,  as  any  man  living.  He  owns  a  few  shares  of  "Tribune"  stock, 
and  hence,  though  not  one  of  the  large  stockholders,  is  a  member  of  the 
"  Tribune  Company. " 

Mr.  Upton  has  especially  signalized  himself,  while  on  the  "Tribune," 
by  his  musical  criticisms,  in  Avhich  he  has  displayed  a  fund  of  knowledge, 
a  cultivated  taste,  and  a  happiness  of  expression,  possessed  by  very  few. 
The  musical  articles  of  the  "Tribune"  have  all,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
been  written  by  him,  and  have  done  much  to  elevate  the  standard  of  the 
sonic  art  in  Chicago.  He  is  fearless  in  his  censures,  without  being  unjust 
or  needlessly  severe,  and  his  judgment  is  as  near  faultless  as  is  permitted 
to  humanity  to  be.  In  opera,  especially,  he  is  at  home,  and  not  only 
grasps  with  a  master's  hand  the  salient  points,  but  does  so  without  losing 
sight  of  the  minutest  details. 

He  is  equally  noted  as  a  dramatic  critic,  though  in  this  respect  he  does 
not  feel  so  much  at  home.  His  annotations  on  the  acting  of  Charles  Kean 
were  widely  read,  and  his  articles  on  Ristori  were  universally  regarded  as 
the  best  that  have  been  written.  East  or  West.  They  were  word-pictures 
of  the  great  artiste,  almost  equally  as  truthful  and  minute  as  her  own  vivid 
delineations  of  character,  and  indicated  a  large  acquaintance  with  the 
fields  of  thought  she  has  evidently  explored  so  deeply.  They  showed  at 
once  the  well-read  classicist,  the  polished  thinker,  and  the  close  student 
of  human  nature. 

INIr.  Upton's  art  notices  have  always  been  noted  for  their  fullness  and 
fairness.  They  show  the  Mriter  to  be  a  master  of  the  subject,  having  the 
eye  of  an  artist,  without  the  fine  frenzy  in  which  that  organ  is  sometimes 
found  rolling.  A  picture  to  win  praise  from  him  must  be  worthy  of  it ; 
and  then  the  beauties  are  dissected  out  in  his  sketch  in  such  a  way  that 


GEORGE   P.   UPTON.  455 

the  reader  has  the  points  of  the  pieture  spread  out  hci(»re  liiin,  and  so 
tnithfully  that  an  examination  of  the  subject  will  always  justify  the  critic, 
both  in  his  praise  and  censure.  His  criticisms  are  not  the  expression  of  a 
mere  fanciful  like  or  dislike,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  but  biLsed  on  a  critical 
survey  by  one  Avhose  good  taste  is  undoubted,  whose  observation  has  been 
extensive,  and  who,  while  not  given  to  verbal  cruelty,  is  yet  fearless  in  his 
strictures,  and  cannot  be  swayed  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  by  persuasion, 
cajolery,  or  flattery. 

The  "Gunnybags"  letters  ^wiy  long  be  remembered  by  their  wide 
circle  of  readers  as  higWy  interei?tln»  sketches  of  the  ridiculous  phases  of 
fashionable  life,  full  of  yj,vacity  gujd  sparkling  with  satire.  They  were 
suspended  some  three  years  since,  not  because  they  had  lost  their  interest, 
but  for  the  reason  that  their  author  was  not  willing  that  they  should  fade 
before  dying.  "Gunnybags"  was  cut  off  in  the  flower  of  his  manhood,  like 
Mercutio.  His  mantle  did  not,  however,  fall  to  the  ground  ;  it  rested  on 
the  shoulders  of  "Peregrine,"  over  whose  signature  the  readers  of  the 
"Tribune"  have,  for  months' past,  found  a  weekly  chit-chat  on  all  the 
current  topics  of  the  day,  cooked  up,  so  to  speak,  with  all  the  savoir  faire 
of  a  Blot  in  the  cuisine.  These  letters  are  noted  for  their  quiet  humor, 
the  quick  appreciation  for  weak  spots  exhibited  by  the  writer,  and  the 
unerring  aim  with  which  the  follies  of  the  day  arc  winged,  in  their  rapid 
flight  across  the  field  of  our  mental  vision. 

Mr.  Upton  is  a  fluent  writer,  and  almost  equally  at  home  on  all 
subjects — the  kind  of  man  to  make  a  successful  editor.  His  descriptions 
are  exact  and  truthful,  his  figures  accurate,  his  memory  active  and  never 
at  a  loss.  His  wide  range  of  ability,  his  fluency  of  thought,  his  readiness 
of  adaptation,  are  sufficiently  shown  in  the  above  sketch;  they  will  be 
better  understood  by  a  knowledge  of  the  fiict,  that  while  attending  to  his 
dailv  round  of  duties  in  the  office,  he  has  found  time  to  correspond 
regularly  with  several  diffijrent  newspapers,  to  supervise  the  issue  of 
Higgins'  "Musical  Review,"  to  edit  for  nearly  a  year  the  "Northwestern 
Insurance  Chronicle,"  to  write  a  work  on  "The  Diseases  of  the  Horse," 
now  in  press,  and  to  jiursue  thoroughly  the  study  of  numismatics.  In  this 
latter  branch  of  research  he  has  made  great  progress,  having  amassed  a 
collection  of  medals  which  is  the  finest  in  the  West,  and  probably  has  no 
superior  in  the  States  or  in  private  collections.  He  has  contril)uted  much 
to  numismatological  literature,  having  written  a  series  of  articles  on  the 
Coins  of  Scripture,  published  in  the  "Northwestern  Christian  Advocate," 


456 


BIOGRAPHICAI.   SKETCHES. 


an  exliaustive  article  on  Chinese  Coinage,  for  the  New  York  "  Numismatic 
Journal,"  a  Romance  of  Coinage,  published  in  the  "Continental  Monthly," 
and  numerous  smaller  articles  on  the  same  subject. 

In  j)erson  Mr.  Upton  is  tall,  of  medium  build,  with  oval  features,  light 
hair,  ruddy  complexion,  and  nervous-sanguine  temperament.  He  is  a 
straight-forward,  thorough-going,  outspoken  man,  polite  in  his  demeanor, 
but  averse  to  paying  or  receiving  compliments.  He  is  never  in  a  hurry, 
but  always  punctual,  and  supplies  a  living  contradiction  to  the  peripatetic 
axiom  that  light-haired  people  are  not  reliable.  He  is  emphatically  a /air 
man,  one  who  scorns  to  take  an  undue  advantage  or  betray  a  confidence. 
During  the  many  years  he  has  been  in  Chicago,  he  has  probably  never  had 
a  personal  trouble  Avith  any  one,  and  this  without  any  sacrifice  of  his 
independence.  Though  not  Chesterfieldian,  the  motto  of  Chesterfield  is 
the  rule  of  his  life — "  Suaviter  in  modo,  et  fortiter  in  re."  He  was  married 
October,  1863,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Bliss,  of  Chicago,  and  formerly  of 
Worcester,  Massachusetts.  One  child,  born  in  November,  1865,  is  the 
present  result  of  their  union. 


LYMAN  TRUMBULL. 


One  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  of  the  Republic,  and  one  of 
the  most  prominent  and  esteemed  citizens  of  Chicago,  is  Hon.  Lymax 
Trumbull.  He  stands  in  the  very  front  rank  of  the  great  and  able  men 
who  constitute  the  Senate  of  the  United  States — a  body  in  which  his 
superior  ability  as  a  statesman  is  indicated  by  the  powerful  influence  he 
is  known  to  wield  among  his  peers,  and  the  ^vcight  that  is  given,  by  the 
country  at  large,  to  the  measures  he  originates  or  advocates,  and  to  the 
words,  sentiments  and  opinions  he  utters  in  debate.  To  give  a  full  and 
detailed  account  of  his  life  and  public  career  would  fill  volumes.  In  a 
work  like  this  we  can  at  best  give  but  a  general  outline  of  his  history, 
without  hoping  to  do  complete  justice  to  our  subject. 

Mr.  Trumbull  was  born  in  Colchester,  Connecticut,  October  12,  1813, 
and  is,  therefore,  now  fifty-four  years  of  age — not  as  old  a  man,  certainly, 
as  one  not  knowing  his  age  would  suppose,  when  considering  his  long 
and  varied  career  as  a  public  man.  He  was  educated  at  Bacon  Academy, 
in  Colchester,  which,  in  those  times,  wjis  one  of  the  best  educational 
institutions  in  New  England,  and  in  which  he  attained  to  a  degree 
of  educational  acquirements  not  usual  for  young  men  of  his  age  u|)nii 
graduating  from  an  institution  of  this  character.  AVhen  only  iji  Jiis 
sixteenth  year,  he  became  a  teacher  of  a  district  school,  and  at  twenty 
years  of  age,  went  to  Georgia,  taking  charge  of  an  Academy  at  Greenville, 
Merriwether  County,  in  that  State.  While  thus  engaged  in  teaching,  he 
made  good  use  of  his  leisure  time  by  studying  law,  with  a  view  to 
preparing  himself  for  the  legal  profession.  This  was  the  iortunate  step 
of  his  life.  He  possibly  might  have  attained  to  a  position  of  distinction 
as  a  teacher,  or   in   any  other  position — probably  would  liave  done  so, 


458  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

for  a  man  of  strong  Avill,  great  energy  and  an  honorable  ambition,  such 
OS  have  always  characterized  Mr.  Trumbull,  rarely  fails  of  rising  above 
the  ordinary  level  of  mankind.  But  his  mind  and  tastes  appear  to 
have  been  peculiarly  suited  to  the  law,  and  the  studies,  discussions  and 
pursuits  of  the  jurist  and  legislator.  At  all  events,  he  has  been  remark- 
ablv  successful,  both  as  a  constitutional  lawyer  and  statesman — more  so, 
it  is  safe  to  presume,  than  he  would  have  been  in  any  other  profession  or 
sphere  of  labor  or  usefulness.  Therefore,  we  feel  justified  in  saying  that 
when  he  determined  to  prepare  himself  for  the  legal  profession,  he  took 
the  fortunate  step  of  his  life — the  step  which  led  him,  by  rapid  degrees, 
to  the  high  places  which  in  after-life  he  ha.s  held  and  honored. 

Admitted  to  practice  at  the  bar  in  Georgia,  in  1837,  he  relinquished 
the  labors  of  the  teacher,  and  at  once  removed  to  Illinois,  which  State  his 
wakeful  perceptions  led  him  to  believe  would  prove  a  fertile  field  in 
which  to  employ  his  native  and  acquired  powers.  In  this  he  judged 
wisely.  Ho  settled  in  Belleville,  St.  Clair  County,  and  soon  became  well 
established  in  the  jiractice  of  law,  and  his  success  may  be  inferred  when 
we  state  that,  in  the  third  year  of  his  residence  there  (1840),  he  was 
nominated  and  elected  Representative  in  the  Legislature  from  that  county, 
and  that  before  he  had  served  out  hLs  term  he  was,  in  1841,  appointed 
Secretary  of  State  of  Illinois.  After  serving  in  the  latter  capacity  for  two 
years,  he  returned  to  his  profession,  and  gained  an  eminence  therein 
second  to  no  other  la>vyer  in  the  State.  In  1848,  he  was  nominated  and 
elected  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  and,  in  1852,  was 
re-elected  for  nine  years.  As  a  Judge  on  the  bench,  he  distinguished 
himself  by  great  acuteness  of  discrimination,  accuracy  of  judgment,  and 
familiarity  with  organic  and  statute  laws.  He  resigned  his  place  on  the 
bench  in  1853,  and  in  the  succeeding  year  was  elected  to  represent  the 
Belleville  District,  then  embracing  a  wide  extent  of  territory,  in  Congress; 
but  before  taking  his  seat  in  the  House,  the  Legislature  elected  him  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  for  the  full  term  of  six  years  from  March  4, 
1855.  Cases  of  such  rapid  progress  in  promotion  are  rare  in  the  history 
of  men,  except  on  the  battle-field,  where,  sometimes,  the  bravest  of  the 
martial  heroes  are  suddenly  promoted  from  privates  or  subalterns  to  the 
chiefest  places  in  the  army.  When,  in  civil  or  political  life,  a  man  is  thus 
rapidlv  exalted  by  his  fellow-men  from  one  high  position  of  trust  and 
responsibility  to  one  still  higher,  the  fact  is  self-evident  that  he  must  be 
possessed  of  superior  parts,  as  Mr.  Trumbull  unquestiouably  was  and  is. 


LYMAN   TRUMBULL.  459 

During  the  great  political  contests  which  attended  the  passage  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  the  organization  of  the  Territories  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska — those  contests  which  agitated  not  only  Congress,  but  the  whole 
nation — Mr.  Trumbull,  both  at  home  and  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  took  a 
bold  and  emphatic  stand  against  the  policy  and  doctrines  of  the  old  Demo- 
cratic party,  with  which  he  had  been  actively  identified  in  years  past,  and 
espoused  the  cause  of  freedom,  of  which  he  became  one  of  the  strongest 
champions.  He  opposed  his  colleague,  Mr.  Douglas,  in  all  questions 
having  reference  to  slavery,  and  especially  in  his  celebrated  "popular 
sovereignty "  plan  of  settling  that  question  in  the  Territories  and  future 
States.  With  such  distinguished  ability  did  he  contest  this  question  with 
!Mr.  Douglas  and  his  friends,  that  he  at  once  gained  a  national  reputation 
as  a  liberty-loving  statesman.  In  1860,  his  name  was  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  the  Republican  candidacy  for  President;  but  neither  he  nor 
his  friends  hoped  for  or  even  encouraged  this.  When  his  fellow-citizen 
and  friend,  INIr.  Lincoln,  was  nominated,  Mr.  Trumbull  advocated  and 
labored  for  his  election  Avitli  great  earnestness.  During  the  early  part  of 
the  next  year,  just  previous  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration,  and  when  the 
war  of  the  rebellion  had  already  virtually  commenced,  Mr.  Trumbull  was 
one  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  Union  party  in  the  Senate,  and  favored  the 
promptest  and  most  decided  measures  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union, 
the  Government  and  the  Constitution.  Without  much  serious  opposition, 
the  Legislature  of  Illinois,  then  in  session,  (1861)  re-elected  Mr.  Trumbull 
for  a  second  term  of  six  years.  That  and  the  succeeding  four  years  were 
stormy  ones  for  the  nation,  which  was  convulsed  by  the  Southern  rebellion 
and  the  vigorous  measures  of  the  Government  to  suppress  it.  Mr. 
Trumbull  was  one  of  the  first  to  propose  the  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution abolishing  slavery  in  the  United  States,  which  proposition  passed 
Congress,  and  was  ratified  by  the  requisite  votes  of  two-thirds  of  the 
States.  As  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate,  a  position 
he  has  held  uninterruptedly  ever  since  1861,  he  framed  and  advocated 
some  of  the  most  important  acts  and  resolutions  which  were  passed  by 
Congress  during  and  since  the  war.  Among  the  more  recent  of  these  are 
the  acts  enlarging  the  powers  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  the  Civil 
Rights'  act.  No  name  is  more  conspicuously  or  inseparably  connected 
with  the  proceedings  of  Congress  during  the  last  seven  years  of  national 
strife  and  excitement  than  his,  either  lus  the  author  of  important  bills  or 
in  debate.  . 


460  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  Legislature  of  1867  re-elected  Mr.  Trumbull  for  a  third  terra, 
upon  which  he  entered  on  the  4th  of  ^Nlarcli  of  the  same  year,  still 
remaining  at  the  head  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  Already  twelve  years 
in  the  Senate,  he  will,  at  the  expiration  of  his  present  term,  have  served 
eighteen  years  in  that  body.  Acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  ablest 
leaders  of  that  assembly  of  grave,  learned  and  distinguished  statesmen 
and  legislators,  his  State,  which  he  represents  with  honor  and  fidelity,  is 
justly  proud  of  him,  and  Cliicago,  the  city  of  his  home,  justly  regards 
him  as  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments  and  most  honorable,  worthy  and 
useful  citizens. 

Although,  as  we  have  already  indicated,  Senator  Trumbull  has  never 
graduated  from  a  college  or  university,  yet  he  is  one  of  our  most  accom- 
plished scholars  and  profound  reasoners,  the  result  of  his  studious  and 
thoughtful  habits  of  life,  his  great  experience  as  a  laborious  public  man, 
and  his  almost  constant  contact  Avith  other  public  men  of  the  nation  for 
over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  As  a  deserved  recognition  of  his  ability,  so 
often  demonstrated,  in  making,  interpreting,  and  analyzing  laws,  in  incor- 
porating and  applying  practically  the  great  principles  of  justice  and  equity, 
and  in  the  discussing  of  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Constitution,  he  has 
twice  been  complimented  by  a  conference  upon  him  of  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws,  once  by  McKendree  College,  Illinois,  and  once  by 
"old  Yale." 

Senator  Trumbull  continued  his  residence  at  Belleville  until  1863, 
when  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  now  resides,  and  where,  during 
the  Congressional  vacancies,  he  mingles  quietly  and  unassumingly  among 
his  fellow-citizens,  who,  without  exception,  esteem  him  personally,  however 
much  some  of  them  differ  from  him  politically.  Though  not  an  impulsive 
man,  yet  in  spirit  he  is  generous.  Plain  and  simple  in  his  manners  and 
appearance,  mild-tempered,  unostentatious,  and  of  genial  disposition,  the 
common  people  respect  him.  He  appears  younger  by  a  dozen  years  than 
he  is,  there  not  being  a  grey  hair  as  yet  visible  on  his  head.  Politically  a 
Republican,  yet  he  is  not  of  the  extreme  radical  sort,  nor  is  he  a  "  conserv- 
ative" in  the  present  usage  of  that  term.  He  may  be  said  to  occupy  an 
intermediate  position  between  what  are  known  as  "radical"  and  "con- 
servative" Republicans.  Judicial  minds  are  rarely  "radical,"  and 
constitutional  lawyers  generally  lean  to  the  conservative  side  of  politics, 
and  to  these  minds,  and  to  this  class  of  lawyers.  Senator  Trumbull  belongs. 
He  is  progressive,  but  not  violent ;   aggressive,  but  not  offensive ;   earnest. 


LYMAN   TRUMBITLT..  461 

but  not  precipitous;  boKl,  but  not  ntsh.  Duriii}^  the  remaining;  live  years 
and  upwards  of  his  present  term,  if  lie  is  spared,  he  will  doubtless  have 
ample  opportunity  to  demonstrate  his  statesmanship.  The  politicid  ordeid 
through  which  the  nation  is  about  to  p:iss  will  be  grave  and  severe  enough, 
it  is  probable,  to  try  and  to  prove  the  raet;d  that  each  and  all  our  great 
men  in  public  life  are  made  of.  Senator  Trumbull's  signal  success  in  the 
past  can  reasonably  be  accepted  as  a  guarantee  of  his  future. 


. 


JAMES  C.  FARGO. 


There  are  few  names  more  familiar  to  the  American  reader  than  that 
of  Fargo.  It  has  been  so  long  and  so  ]n*ominently  connected  with  one 
of  the  great  institutions  of  the  age — the  express  business — that  if  it  has 
not  become  a  part  and  parcel  thereof,  it  is  at  least  a  synonym  for  trust, 
security  and  swift-winged  conveyance.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  com- 
prehend the  mighty  changes  that  have  been  wrought  by  the  express 
companies  in  the  carrying  trade  of  the  country.  They  have  revolutionized 
not  only  that  trade,  but  even  the  old-time  system  of  the  mercantile  world. 
They  have  made  and  unmade  more  fortunes  than  any  other  known  agency 
in  commercial  circles.  Xot  content  with  harnessing  the  iron  draught- 
horse  to  their  chariot  wheels,  and  dragging  their  precious  trusts  at  the 
fifteen-miles-an-hour  speed  of  the  freight  train,  they  must  needs  attach 
their  chariot  to  the  thoroughbred,  fire-eating  racer  of  the  express  train, 
which  bounds  and  leaps  over  the  trembling  earth  at  thirty  and  forty  miles 
an  hour.  And  it  was  then  that  the  express  companies  developed  their 
wonderful  power  for  good  or  for  evil  in  tiie  commercial  W(»rld.  The  fogy 
merchant  of  two  decades  ago,  dressed  in  the  inevitable  black  satin  vest, 
adhered  to  the  slow-going  freight  train  for  the  delivery  of  his  goo<Is, 
while  modern  intelligence  and  enterprise,  though  clad  in  homespiui, 
ordered  goods  by  lightning  and  sold  them  before  Fogy  had  received  his. 
In  the  long  run — though  generally  a  short  one — Fogy  went  by  the  board, 
while  his  more  enterprising  rival  amassed  wealth,  and  rode  with  com- 
mercial greatness  ui)on  the  crest  of  the  foremost  wave. 

Equally  wonderiul  are  the  changc-s  that  have  taken  ]>lace  in  the 
express  business  itself  during  the  past  (piarter  of  a  century.  Twenty 
years  ago  the  companies,  in  order  to  pay  expenses,  were  compelled  to  deal 


464  BIOGRAPHICAL,  SKETCHES. 

in  oysters,  fish,  butter,  cheese,  etc.,  buying  these  articles  as  best  they  could, 
and  peddling  them  out  to  the  greatest  advantage.  Now,  the  express 
companies  are  wealthy  and  powerful.  Their  business  extends  all  over 
the  world,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  town  or  hamlet  that  is  not  a  link  in  the 
great  chain. 

He  whose  name  heads  this  brief  sketch,  though  comparatively  young 
in  years,  is  a  veteran  in  the  express  business.  James  C.  Fargo  was  born 
in  Watervale,  Onondaga  County,  New  York,  May  5,  1829.  He  was  the 
seventh  child  of  William  C.  Fargo  and  his  wife,  whose  union  was  blessed 
with  eleven  children.  His  father  was  of  Irish  descent,  his  grandfather 
immio-ratino;  from  Ireland  at  an  earlv  day  and  sfttling  in  New  England. 
His  mother  was  a  native  of  jMassacluisetts,  and  subsequently  resided  in 
Norwich,  Connecticut,  where  she  was  married  to  William  C.  Fargo. 
Shortly  after  their  marriage,  they  removed  to  Western  New  York,  at  that 
time  the  "Great  West"  of  the  country.  This  worthy  couple  were  not 
burdened  with  riches,  and  were  unable  to  give  their  children  such 
educational  advantages  as  are  only  attainable  by  people  of  means;  and 
consequently  their  son  James  graduated  at  the  old  red  school-house  in 
Watervale.  Studious,  ambitious  to  learn,  and  a  most  industrious  reader, 
he  emerged  from  that  common  school  a  better  and  more  practical  scholar 
than  are  the  majority  of  those  who  regularly  graduate,  and  whose  sole 
evidence  thereof  is  contained  in  their  diplomas. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  Mr.  Fargo  went  to  Buffalo  and  entered  the  office 
of  his  brother,  William  G.  Fargo,  who,  with  others,  was  running  an 
express  line  between  Buffalo  and  Albany,  under  the  name  of  Livingston, 
Wells  &  Pomeroy,  and  another  between  Buffalo  and  Detroit,  known  as 
Wells  &  Co.'s.  After  discharging  for  a  short  time  the  duties  of  sweeping 
the  office  and  running  errands,  the  young  man  ^vas  promoted  to  the 
delivery  of  money  packages  about  the  city.  At  that  time  the  express 
business  amounted  to  a  single  carpet-bag  and  a  dozen  articles  a  day 
between  Buffalo  and  Albany,  and  the  same  quantity  once  or  twice  a  week 
between  Buffalo  and  Detroit.  The  railroad  had  but  just  been  conipleted 
to  Buffalo,  then,  and  west  of  that  city  there  was  no  railway  link. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  Mr.  Fargo  accompanied  his  brother  to  Detroit, 
where  he  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  company's  office  in  that  city.  Early 
the  following  year,  his  brother  returned  to  the  Buffalo  office,  leaving  ]\Ir. 
Fargo  in  partial  charge  of  the  office  in  Detroit,  and  soon  after  giving  him 
entire  control  of  the  business  in  that  city,  first  as  local  agent,  and  subse- 


JAMES   C.    FARGO.  465 

quently,  as  the  two  great  trunk  lines  ol'  railroad  tlii-oiiuh  Miclii-i^au  wiTt- 
completed,  as  Superintendent  of  the  company '.s  business  in  that  IStatf. 
This  responsible  position  was  filled  with  signal  ability  and  fidelity  until 
January,  1855,  when  he  came  to  C'iiicago,  having  been  appointed  agent  in 
charge  of  the  Chicago  office  of  the  ^Vnui-lcaii  lOxpress  Company.  The 
old  pioneer  companies,  it  should  be  stated  here,  had  been  merged,  in  1850, 
into  what  is  now  known  its  the  great  and  powerful  American  Express 
Company.  Mr.  Fargo,  shortly  after  assuming  charge  of  the  company't? 
affiiirs  in  Chicago,  was  promoted  to  the  General  Superintendency  of  the 
Northwestern  Division  of  the  company's  lines,  the  duties  of  which  were 
performed  in  a  manner  that  rendered  him  immensely  popular  with  business 
men,  idolized  by  his  employes,  and  commandiug  the  respect  and  admira- 
tion of  the  company.  Indeed,  his  talents  and  genius  so  eminently  fitted 
him  to  rise  to  the  summit  of  his  profession,  that,  in  January,  1867,  he 
was  invited  to  the  city  of  New  York  to  assume  the  position  of  General 
Manager  of  the  American  Express  Company,  and  a  Director  in  the  great 
Banking,  Express  and  Stage  Company  of  the  Pacific  States,  the  business 
of  which  powerful  organization  extends  to  all  parts  of  the  Morld. 

Mr.  Fargo  was  married  to  Miss  Fannie  P.  Stuart,  daughter  of  Colonel 
John  Stuart,  of  Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1853. 
Two  boys  and  a  girl  are  the  fruit  of  that  union,  which  there  is  abundant 
reason  to  believe  has  been  a  singularly  happy  one.  His  ambition  seems 
to  lean  in  the  direction  of  social  position,  and  in  this  particular  he  has 
attained  the  summit  of  hope,  lor  no  man  can  be  more  respected  or  sought 
after  in  society  than  he  is.  Singularly  quiet  and  unostentatious  in  habit 
and  manner,  his  intercourse  Mith  his  friends  is  marked  by  a  dignity 
bespeaking  the  inbred  gentleman,  a  dignity  that  has  nothing  forbidding 
iu  its  composition,  for  the  angles  are  all  softened  into  beautiful  curves 
by  a  countenance  lighted  up  with  smiles,  and  radiant  with  good  feeling. 
Some  men  look  hideously  ugly  when  they  smile.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  not  one  of  those.  He  possesses  a  liglit,  graceful  figure  of 
medium  size  and  height,  a  line  looking  face,  clear  complexion,  and  a 
remarkably  beautiful  eye.  His  countenance,  when  illumined  by  a  smile 
peculiarly  his  own,  is  positively  handsome.  With  such  cliaracteristics  it 
is  not  at  all  strange  that  his  social  qualities  and  position  might  well  be 
envied. 

In  the  winter  of  1857,  Mr.  Fargo  connected  himself  with  Trinity 
(Protestant    Episcopal)   Church,    thcu    located    on    >radison    street,   near 


466  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Clark.     In  the  following  spring,  he  was  elected  a  Vestryman  of   that        i 
church,  a  position  which,  together  with  that  of  Junior  Warden,  he  retained 
until  his  removal  to  New  York,  in  January,  1867. 

Although  located  at  present  in  New  York,  j\Ir.  Fargo  has  no  idea  of 
relinquishing  the  mauy  loved  associations  of  his  Chicago  home,  for  his 
home  he  still  claims  in  the  Garden  City. 


GEORGE  L.  DUNLAP. 


Ox  the  eastern  shore  of  Maine,  and  but  a  few  miles  from  the  coast, 
stands  the  beautiful  little  village  of  Brunswick,  bordered  by  the  somewhat 
famous  Androscroggin  River,  a  lovely  and  loveable  stream,  that  went  into 
history  in  years  of  the  long  ago.  Those  who  made  it  historic  have  passed 
away,  and  the  bones  of  succeeding  generations  have  returned  to  dust  since 
then,  but  not  without  transmitting  a  rich  legacy  of  virtue,  enterprise  and 
courage  to  their  inheritors. 

It  is  a  traditional,  if  not  a  historical  fact,  as  yet  undisputed,  that  tiie 
first  orthodox  sermon  ever  delivered  in  that  portion  of  what  was  then  the 
Province  of  Massachusetts,  fell  from  the  eloquent  lips  of  that  sturdy 
Scotch  pioneer,  Samuel  Dunlap,  from  whom  has  descended,  in  a  direct 
line,  George  L.  Duxlap,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

In  a  collection  of  biographical  sketches  of  Chicago's  representative 
men,  no  name  will  better  grace  the  page  than  that  of  this  eminently 
self-made  man,  who  has  carved  his  way  from  an  early  orphanage  to  a 
situation  of  the  highest  resjicctability  and  responsibility. 

Mr.  Dunlap  was  born  in  Brunswick,  Maine,  October  25,  1828,  and  is 
consequently  thirty-nine  years  of  age.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
but  two  years  old,  and  the  death  of  his  mother,  seven  years  later,  left 
him  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  nine  years.  Though  an  orphan,  he  was  not 
friendless.  He  was  adopted  into  the  family  of  Mr.  Belknaji,  of  Portland, 
the  great  railroad  contractor  and  constructor,  and  it  was  under  his 
tutelage  that  the  boy  George  early  evinced  a  remarkable  aptitude  and 
taste  for  railroading,  and  here  his  mind  received  tlie  germ  of  that 
thorough  knowledge,  of  his  chosen  profession  which  he  was  destined  to 
ornament  and  command. 


468  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

With  liirn  the  study  of  civil  engineering  amounted  to  a  passion,  and 
he  was  never  so  happy  as  when,  receiving  permission  to  volunteer  his 
services  to  surveying  parties  in  the  field,  he  was  enabled  to  reduce  theory 
to  practice.  The  practical  turn  of  his  mind,  united  with  an  industrious 
perseverance,  Avhich  his  natural  tastes  converted  into  a  pastime,  attracted 
a  considerable  degree  of  attention  from  leading  railroad  spirits.  Among 
these  was  the  veteran  Charles  Minot,  General  Superintendent  of  the 
Boston  and  Maine  Railroad,  into  whose  office,  in  Boston,  Mr.  Dunlap 
was  inducted  as  confidential  clerk,  at  the  age  of  twenty.  Here  he 
remained  four  years,  performing  his  duties  so  satisfactorily  that  when, 
in  1852,  Mr.  Minot  was  appointed  General  Superintendent  of  the  Erie 
Railway,  Mr.  Dunlap  was  tendered  the  responsible  position  of  General 
Ticket  Agent  of  the  same  road,  a  position  that  was  accepted  and  honorably 
filled.  He  who  is  destined  to  attain  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  will 
not  long  remain  midway  between  valley  and  peak ;  and  so,  in  the  natural 
order  of  progression,  Mr.  Dunlap,  at  the  end  of  four  years'  service  as 
General  Ticket  Agent  of  the  Erie,  resigned  his  portfolio  to  accept 
promotion  in  the  great  West.  We  find  him,  in  January,  1856,  installed 
as  Assistant  Engineer  and  Superintendent  of  the  Chicago  and  North- 
western Railway,  with  his  lieadquarters  in  Chicago,  the  future  great 
railroad  centre  of  the  continent.  From  that  day  to  this,  the  biography 
of  George  L.  Dunlap  and  the  history  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern 
Railway  are  identified  so  closely  with  each  other  as  to  defy  sejjaration. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  of  that  time,  1856,  and  the 
railway  bearing  that  name  to-day,  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  each 
other  that  the  child  does  to  the  man,  and  that  man  a  giant  among  men. 
A  total  of  eighty  miles,  indifferently  built  and  poorly  equipped,  was  all 
of  which  this  germ  of  a  great  corporation  was  the  master. 

In  October,  1858,  he  received  the  appointment  of  General  Superin-' 
tendent,  a  position  that  he  still  holds.  At  that  time  the  road  had  been 
completed  to  Janesville,  ninety  miles  from  Chicago,  and  also  from  Minne- 
sota Junction  to  Oshkosh,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six 
miles  of  road,  but  leaving  a  gap  of  fifty-seven  miles  between  Janesville 
and  Minnesota  Junction.  In  the  summer  of  1859,  the  gap  was  filled, 
the  broken  link  of  fifty-seven  miles  being  supplied  in  ninety  days,  greatl}^ 
to  the  disgust  of  the  Milwaukee  railroad  interests,  which  saw,  with 
dismay,  a  great  railway  artery  leading  direct  from  the  heart  of  the  richest 
agricultural  portion  of  Wisconsin  to  Chicago. 


GEORGE   L.   DUNLAP.  469 

From  that  time  to  the  present,  the  <i;n)\\(h  oC  the  Chicago  and  Morih- 
western  Railway  has  been  ol'  a  ehaiaeter  unparalleled  in  railroad  hist<jry. 
Its  protecting  folds  have  been  thrown  about  various  roads,  until  pater 
familias  can  count  his  progeny  by  the  dozen.  Among  these  that  were 
thus  gatliered  iiito  the  grexit  i'amily,  are  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union, 
the  Chicago  and  Nebraska,  the  Kenosha  and  Roeklbrd,  the  Peninsular, 
the  Chicago  and  Milwaukee,  the  Winona  and  St.  Pi-ter's,  and  the 
La  Crosse,  Trenipcleau  and  Prescott  Railways. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  of  eighty  miles  in  185G,  has 
grown  to  the  dimensions  of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty-six  miles  in  1867 — 
the  greatest  railway  corporation  in  the  world.  The  practical  operation 
of  this  great  network  of  railways  has  always  been  under  his  control.  He 
has  originated  and  put  in  successful  operation,  day  by  day,  as  the  needs 
of  the  property  under  his  charge  developed,  a  system  of  administration, 
unique  in  some  particulars,  that  places  him  at  the  very  head  of  his 
profession. 

In  person  Mr.  Dunlap  is  tall,  well  proportioned,  and  has  a  decidedly 
commanding  presence.  His  deportment  is  easy  and  graceful,  and  is 
marked  by  a  happy  blending  of  dignity  and  afT'ability.  He  possesses 
fine  conversational  powers,  and  his  views  and  opinions  are  stated  with 
a  clearness  and  terseness  seldom  met  with.  Of  his  religious  or  political 
creed,  the  writer  knows  nothing.  It  is  known,  however,  that  he  contri- 
butes liberally  for  the  support  of  religious  and  l)enevolent  institutions, 
and  the  deserving  poor  never  leave  his  door  empty  handed. 

Of  INIr.  Dunlap's  intellectual  powers,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
they  are  oi'  a  very  high  order.  The  j)osiiion  he  holds,  and  his  successful 
administration  of  the  difficult  and  weighty  duties  ineuinl)ent  thereon, 
would  argue  the  possession  of  a  finely  balanced  mind.  His  head  is 
what  phrenologists  would  take  delight  in  calling  a  good  one.  His 
reasoning  powers  are  well  developed,  and  with  quickness  of  perception 
and  comprehension,  aided  by  keen  analytical  powers,  the  solution  of 
knotty  questions,  or  the  elucidation  of  facts  from  mountains  of  dross, 
becomes  a  logical  sequence. 

Mr.  Dunlap's  taste  for  the  mechanic  arts  is  very  marked,  and  his 
judgment  in  relation  thereto  most  excellent.  His  familiarity  with 
machinery  has  frequently  led  mechanics  into  the  suj)position  that  he 
was  a  practical  madiinist.  As  an  evidence  of  his  taste  in  this  dinction. 
it  mav  not  be  amiss  to  cite  the  fact  that  he  has  had  constructed  fur  hi . 


470 


BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 


own  use  a  miniature  locomotive,  the  "Minnie,"  a  perfect  little  gem  in 
all  its  appointments,  whicli  he  frequently  drives  over  the  road,  acting  as 
his  own  engineer,  in  his  trips  of  inspection. 

Mr.  Dunlap  was  married,  in  1853,  to  Miss  Ellen  Pond,  of  Boston. 
That  union  has  been  blessed  with  two  children,  both  of  whom  are  now 
living.  In  his  domestic  relations,  ]Mr.  Dunlap,  we  may  be  allowed 
to  observ^e,  is  to  be  numbered  among  Fortune's  favorites  in  the  great 
matrimonial  lottery;  and  in  all  his  social  relations,  he  enjoys  the  respect 
and  friendship)  of  those  who  know  him. 


GEORGE  M.  PULLMAN. 


Chicago  may  well  be  proud  of  her  commanding  position  on  this 
continent,  inasmuch  as,  though  a  city  of  recent  growth,  she  not  only  is 
the  centre  of  the  energies  of  the  Northwest,  but  has  established  herself  as 
the  place  of  origin  of  many  improvements.  She  has  shown  the  world 
how  to  elevate  grain  in  her  immense  warehouses,  how  to  lift  huge  blocks 
of  brick  and  stone  buildings  many  feet  above  the  original  level,  and  how 
to  make  of  railroad  travel  a  positive  luxury,  instead  of  a  discomforting 
annoyance.  She  has  done  much  to  bring  the  world  up  to  grade,  and 
not  more  by  supplying  the  alimentary  necessities  of  an  ever  increasing 
population,  tlian  by  stimulating  to  improvement  in  labor  processes,  and 
the  enjoyment  of  hours  of  leisure. 

Not  the  least  among  the  benefits  which  have  been  conferred  upon 
the  world  from  Chicago  as  the  fountain  of  good,  is  the  introduction  of 
improved  modes  of  traveling  by  railroad.  Until  less  than  ten  years 
ago,  the  voijagcur  rode  painfully  along,  in  poorly  ventilated  cars,  halting 
by  the  wayside  at  spasmodic  intervals  for  badly  cooked  food  in  unsatis- 
factory supply,  and  stopping  at  night  to  recuperate  his  energies  by 
sleep.  Now,  how  changed  the  scene !  No  time  need  be  lost  in  travel. 
The  man  of  business,  or  the  delicate  lady,  is  carried  rapidly  from  one  side 
of  the  continent  to  the  other,  without  a  greater  feeling  of  fiitigue  than 
would  be  experienced  at  home,  and  without  stop.  The  same  train  which 
bears  the  passengers  swiftly  along  towards  their  destination,  also  carries 
a  cuisine  worthy  of  a  Blot,  and  couches  wliose  elegance,  convenience, 
comfort  and  privacy,  are  not  surpassed  by  those  of  the  best  iiimily  circle. 
All  is  agreeable,  pleasant — the  palace  car  provides  the  comfort  of  the 
home  mansion,  and  traveling  has  elbowed  out  the  claim  of  dancing  to  be 
called  the  poetry  of  motion. 


472  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

So  much  of  this  grand  improvement  is  chargeable  to  the  credit  of  one 
man,  that  he  merits  a  high  place  in  the  regards  of  the  public,  as  a 
benefactor  of  the  race.  That  man  is  George  ]M.  Pullman,  Esq.,  the 
well  and  widely  known  prince  of  the  palace  sleeping-car  system.  He  is 
known  by  other  works,  but  it  is  in  this  department  of  effort  that  he  has 
made  himself  famous,  and  from  his  biding  place  in  Chicago  taught  the 
world  an  important  lesson,  not  learned  before,  how  to  enjoy  life  on  the 
road. 

Mr.  Pullman  was  born  March  3,  1831,  in  Chatauqua  County,  New 
York,  the  third  son  of  James  Lewis  and  Emily  Caroline  Pullman.  His 
father  was  a  hard-working  mechanic,  who  supported  his  family  comfortably 
by  the  labor  of  his  hands,  but  did  not  acquire  property.  George,  after 
the  usual  schooling  and  changes  of  youth,  finally  commenced  business  life 
in  a  furniture  establishment  in  Albion,  New  York,  early  developing 
traits  of  enterprise  and  industry.  Soon  after  this,  owing  to  the  death 
of  his  father,  he  found  himself  called  upon  to  assume  new  responsibilities 
in  the  care  and  support  of  the  family,  which  induced  him  to  look  for 
a  wider  and  more  profitable  field  of  enterprise.  He  made  contracts 
with  the  State  of  New  York  for  raising  buildings  on  the  line  of  the 
enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  which  occupied  about  four  years  in  their 
completion.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  in  1859,  he  removed  to  Chicago, 
and  almost  immediately  entered  upon  tlie  work,  then  just  begun,  of 
bringing  our  city  uj)  to  grade,  by  the  raising  of  many  of  our  most 
prominent  brick  and  marble  structures,  including  the  Matteson  and 
Tremont  Houses,  together  with  many  of  our  heaviest  South  AVater  street 
blocks.  He  M^as  one  of  the  contractors  for  raising,  by  one  operation,  the 
massive  buildings  of  the  entire  Lake  street  front  of  the  block  between 
Clark  and  LaSalle  streets,  including  the  Marine  Bank  and  several  of  our 
largest  stores,  the  business  of  all  these  continuing  almost  unimpeded 
during  the  process — a  feat,  in  its  class,  probably  without  a  parallel  in  the 
world. 

His  connection  with  the  sleeping-car  interest  dates  almost  from  the 
time  of  his  entrance  into  the  city.  In  the  spring  of  1859,  his  attention 
was  attracted  to  the  subject  of  providing  better  sleeping  accommodations 
for  the  public  while  journeying  on  the  rail.  He  made  a  contract  Avith 
Governor  Matteson  to  fit  up  with  berths  two  old  cars,  for  use  on  the 
Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad.  The  cai-s  were  introduced  to  the  public  in 
August  of  that  year,  and  the  wonderful  improvement  was  amply  described 


GEORGE  M.  PULLMAN.  473 

in  (iill-cohiiiin  articles  of  the  papers  of  that  primeval  era.  There  was  no 
comparison,  however,  between  tho;=e  two  ears  and  the  magnificent  palaces 
on  wheels  which  now  constitute  the  Pullman  lines;  but  they  were  a  long 
step  ahead,  and  were  widely  appreciated  for  the  increased  comfort  afforded 
by  them  over  any  similar  institutions  then  in  use. 

The  advantage  Avas  not,  however,  at  that  time  followed  up,  partially 
because  the  railroad  companies  were  slower  then  than  now  to  adopt 
improvements,  and  partly  because  Mr.  Pullman's  energies  were  called  off 
in  another  direction — to  the  great  mineral  regions  of  Colorado,  whither  he 
went  in  1860,  and  remained  until  the  spring  of  18G3,  at  which  time  he 
returned  to  Chicago.  Meanwhile,  he  had  built  several  cars  for  the 
Chicago  and  Alton,  and  the  old  Galena  roads,  and,  becoming  satisfied  tlvat 
there  was  a  Avide  field  for  improvement  in  sleeping-cars,  he  sold  out  his 
Colorado  interests  and  concluded  to  apply  his  whole  time  and  cai)ital  to 
the  new  enterprise. 

To  will  was  to  do.  He  improvised  a  shop  on  the  Chicago  and  Alton 
Railroad,  and  built  two  palace  cars,  at  a  cost  of  about  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  each,  to  run  on  that  road.  They  Avere  regarded  by  very  many 
as  specimens  of  foolish  extravagance,  but  the  people  soon  found  out  that 
he  knew  better  than  they  what  they  wanted.  The  cars  were  visited  by  a 
great  many  prominent  gentlemen,  all  of"  whom  took  considerable  interest 
in  examining  them,  even  while  decrying  them.  One  of  the  first  to 
appreciate  their  value  Avas  John  AV.  Brooks,  Esq.,  then  President  of  the 
Michigan  Central  Road,  Avho  desired  Mr.  Pullman  to  go  to  Boston  and 
arrange  for  placing  similar  ones  on  his  I'oad.  Mr.  Pullman  did  so,  and 
there  effected  an  exclusive  contract  to  run  his  sleeping-cars  on  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad  for  the  term  of  ten  years.  This  Avas  soon 
foUoAved  by  similar  contracts  for  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy 
Railroad,  and  the  Great  Western  of  Canada.  Since  then  the  sleeping-cars 
of  Mr.  Pullman  haA'c  come  into  A'ery  general  u.-e.  They  are  noAV  running 
on  eighteen  lines  of  railroad,  and  are  increasing  in  number  as  rapidly 
as  the  extensive  Avorkshops  with  which  he  is  connected  can  produce 
them,  Avhile  each  new  car  exhibits  a  marked  improvement  over  its 
predecessors.  Indeed,  this  is  the  great  secret  of  Mr.  Pullman's  success; 
he  does  not  rest  satisfied  Avith  past  achievements,  but  is  constantly  aiming 
to  produce  something  better.  Obtaining  liberal  contracts,  he  has 
endeavored  from  the  first  to  meet  the  most  rigid  requirements,  by  building 
cars  more  superb  than  ever.     We  cannot  tell  what  Avill  be  in  the  future, 


474  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

but  we  in-edict  that  the  next  ton  years  will  witness  as  marked  an  advance 
as  has  been  achieved  in  the  pa^ft  decade. 

The  earnest  of  this  is  now  before  us,  in  the  magnificent  hotel  cars  just 
brought  out,  which  effect  a  complete  revolution  in  railroad  travel,  by 
obviating  the  necessity  fur  stoppages,  enabling  passengers  not  only  to 
sleep,  but  to  eat  on  the  train ;  thus  furnishing  them  with  all  the  comforts 
of  a  first-class  hotel,  while  whirling  them  along  towards  their  destination. 
Mr.  Pullman  has  already  received  applications  from  the  managers  of 
several  roads  to  introduce  his  palace  dining  cars.  He  has  completed 
arrangements  of  this  character  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  the 
great  improvement  will,  no  doubt,  ere  long  be  generally  adopted. 

The  whole  of  this  vast  enterprise  has  been  accomplished  without  any 
aid  except  that  commanded  by  ^Ir.  Pullman  in  his  business  relations. 
He  had  no  influential  friends,  except  as  he  made  them  by  showing  that  he 
was  working  for  the  benefit  of  society,  and  that  it  would  be  to  their 
advantage  to  assist  in  the  labor.  In  this  he  has  been  eminently  successful, 
as  the  extent  of  his  connection  shows.  Two  years  ago  he  organized  the 
Southern  "  Pullman,  Kimball  &  Ramsey  Sleeping  Car  Company,"  with 
headquarters  at  Atlanta,  Georgia.  In  August  last  he  organized  the 
"Pullman  Palace  Car  Company,"  at  Chicago,  with  a  capital  of  one 
million  dollars,  Mhich  now  covers  the  leading  ^Western  and  Southern 
railroads  centering  in  Chicago,  as  well  as  the  great  central  route  East; 
and  has  since  organized  the  "  Pullman  Pacific  Car  Company,"  to  run  on 
the  Pacific  Railroad  and  branches. 

Although  Mr.  Pullman  was  not  the  first  inventor  of  sleeping-cars,  yet 
he  is  the  inventor  and  patentee  of  the  improvements  which  have  made  his 
cars  so  popular  Avith  the  public,  and  he  may  justly  claim  to  have  been 
the  first  to  seize  the  idea  of  making  sleepers  comfortable  while  in  transitu. 
He  has  prosecuted  that  idea  from  the  commencement  with  an  energy  and 
pertinacity  which  insured  and  deserved  the  success  that  has  crowned  his 
efforts.  The  original  sleeping-car  was  a  mere  arrangement  of  bunks, 
without  sheets,  and  still  less  provided  with  the  luxurious  appliances 
which  now  invite  the  wayfarer  to  a  grateful  repose.  Mr.  Pullman's 
starting  point  in  his  palace-car  system  was  a  full  confidence  in  the 
disposition  of  the  traveler  to  pay  for  luxurious  accommodations  by  rail. 
On  this  he  made  his  stake  and  won.  The  palace-car  is  the  needed  Ihik 
between  the  sumptuous  hotels  that  meet  the  traveler  in  all  our  great 
cities.     It  is   a  land  adaptation  of  the  luxuries   of  the  stateroom    and 


GEORGE   M.   PULLMAN.  476 

cuisine  of  the  superb  lake  luul  river  steamer.  It  roiiiuls  tlie  list  and 
completes  the  trinity — hotel,  steamer,  railway  car.  Mr.  Pullman's  first 
essay  was  on  a  scale  that  startled  with  its  magnificence  the  old  dreamers 
that  perfection  by  rail  had  been  already  won;  and  their  astonishment  has 
given  way  to  admiration  at  witnessing  how,  through  successive  stages 
of  progress,  the  result  has  been  reached  that  makes  a  train  without  a 
Pullman  palace-car  something  less  than  the  perfection  this  age  has  given 
to  the  art  of  traveling.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  liberality  and  enterprise 
of  Mr.  Pullman  has  excited  a  spirit  of  rivalry  in  all  leading  lines,  until 
the  palace-car  system  is  rapidly  spreading  throughout  the  whole  country. 

The  location  of  Chicago  as  the  leading  railroad  centre  of  the  United 
States,  with  long  lines  and  routes  of  travel  terminating  here,  made  this 
city,  of  all  others  in  the  country,  favorable  to,  and  teeming  with,  the 
suggestions  of  the  necessity  and  profit  of  a  higher  scale  of  accommo- 
dations for  the  comfort  and  luxury  of  travelers.  This  early  attracted 
Mr.  Pullman's  attention,  as  above  stated,  and  the  result  is  known  to  the 
whole  traveling  world.  It  found  him  trained  and  skillful  in  handling 
great  enterprises,  and  opened  to  him  a  career  as  prosperous  for  himself  as 
it  has  been  a  fortunate  one  to  all  travelers  by  rail. 

Mr.  Pullman  was  married,  June  13,  1867,  to  Miss  Hattie  Sanger, 
of  this  city,  a  daughter  of  the  late  J.  Y.  Sanger,  Esq.  He  is  a  man 
of  genial  countenance  and  pleasant  address,  tireless  in  action,  and  speaks 
methodically,  because  he  thinks  clearly.  He  is  a  worshipper  in  the 
Universalist  Church,  but  not  a  member  of  the  society,  and  has  two 
brothers  in  the  ministry  of  that  denomination. 

Controlling,  as  he  does,  a  large  amount  of  capital,  we  feel  that  we 
should  not  have  discharged  our  duty  as  a  biographer,  were  we  not  to 
allude  to  the  use  he  makes  of  it.  Mr.  Pullman  is  extensively  engaged 
in  manufacturing  interests,  and  is  thus  enabled  to  furnish  employment 
to  hundreds  of  hands  that  otherwise  might  remain  idle.  One  of  the 
largest  manufactories  of  its  class  in  the  country,  the  Eagleton  Wire 
Works,  of  Xcw  York,  employing  over  one  thousand  men,  of  which 
Mr.  Pullman  is  the  principal  owner,  together  with  his  interests  in  car 
manufactories,  employing  about  the  same  juimber  of  men,  aflbrd  illus- 
trations of  the  manner  in  which  his  capital  is  employed.  In  pursuing 
this  course,  we  consider  that  he  gives  to  the  world  a  practical  example 
of  the  duty  of  Christians  to  "feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked." 
Thousands  of  hearts  are  thus  made  glad.     In  lact,  there  i.-?  no  better  way 


476 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


of  helping  others  than  by  furnishing  them  the  means  to  help  themselves. 
Those  who  do  this  are  truly  benefactors  of  the  race,  inasmuch  as  they 
enable  their  fellow  mortals  to  eat  the  "bread  of  industry,"  which  is 
much  sweeter  than  the  "bread  of  idleness." 

As  a  city,  we  owe  our  present  world-wide  fame  to  the  tireless 
exertions  of  those  men  who  have  originated  and  developed  enterprises 
which  have  commanded  the  attention  of  those  around  us,  far  and  near. 
Realizing  the  benefits  we  derive  from  the  presence  of  such  men  in  our 
midst,  we  heartily  express  our  desire  for  a  long  life  of  activity  for 
Mr.  Pullman,  and  all  those  who  have  contributed  to  our  prosperity. 
Yet  a  young  man,  he  has  many  years  of  active  life  before  him,  during 
which,  no  doubt,  he  will  evolve  other  ideas,  or  reduce  to  practical  shape 
some  hitherto  unutilized  thought  to  benefit  the  world,  while  increasing 
his  own  resources,  and  extending  his  fame. 


HENRY   A\'.   HINSDALE. 


The  last  twenty  yours  have  wrought  great  changes  in  Cliicago.  Tlie 
few  whose  fortunes  were  at  that  time  linked  with  the  destinies  uf  the 
future  great  city  have  seen  it  grow  up,  -with  almost  magical  rapidity,  to 
its  present  wondrous  proportions,  to  which  growth  they  have  so  largely 
contributed.  It  is  their  energy  ayImcH,  availing  itself  of  the  natural 
advantages  here  offered,  shaped  them  into  service  as  the  rude  ore  of  the 
mountain  is  fashioned  into  the  gigantic  steam-engine  or  the  delicate  watch- 
spring.  But  for  the  work  of  the  artificer,  tlie  ore  Avould  be  valueless,  and 
but  for  the  tireless  exertions  of  our  early  settlers,  their  sagacious  foresight, 
their  indomitable  energy,  Chicago  would  still  be  what  it  was  forty  years 
ago,  a  worthless  piece  of  semi-submerged  prairie. 

One  of  the  foremost  among  that  noble  little  band  who  have  made  the 
Chicago  of  to-day,  is  Hexry  \V.  Hinsdale,  the  senior  partner  in  tlie 
firm  of  Hinsdale,  Sibley  &  Eudicott,  wholesale  grocers.  He  came  hither 
in  1845,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  bringing  witli  him  nothing  but 
willing  hands,  a  firm  purpose,  strict  integrity,  and  the  ability  to  achieve 
success.  He  bore  w'ith  him  no  patent  right  to  mercantile  pre-eminence, 
nor  had  he  friends  here  to  open  wide  the  door  which  bars  the  easy  path- 
way to  fortune.  He  struck  no  huge  nugget,  but  simply  made  a  judicious 
selection  of  a  spot  in  which  to  labor,  and  then  delved  with  a  will  that 
soon  exposed  the  precious  metal  beneath,  which  was  thenceforward  sifted 
out  persistently  and  patiently  from  the  ore,  each  day  adding  to  his  stock 
of  wealth,  and  every  night  finding  him  the  richer  for  the  labor  done. 

Mr.  Hinsdale  was  born  in  the  year  182G,  in  Bennington,  Vermont, 
the  son  of  Hirtim  and  lloxanna  Hinsdale,  who  were  originally  from  Nor- 
wich, Connecticut.      In  18-']1,  his  jjarents  removcil  with  him  to  Kalamazoo, 


478  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Michigan,  in  company  with  a  colony,  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  woods, 
the  next  year.  JNIichigan  was  then  only  a  Territory,  and  the  early  settlers 
saw,  emphatically,  hard  times,  of  which  the  Hinsdale  family  had  their 
full  share.  He  remained  here  two  years,  and  then  removed  to  Grand 
Rajjids,  ISIichigan,  at  that  time  a  mere  trading  post,  whose  Avhole  white 
population  consisted  of  four  families.  Here  he  lived  until  eighteen  years 
old,  found  plenty  of  hard  work,  but  was  able  to  take  the  benefit  of  a  little 
schooling,  which  he  improved  to  the  utmost. 

After  working  a  while  on  a  farm  at  Grand  Rapids,  he  began  to  consider 
that  it  was  time  lost,  as  it  afforded  no  prospect  compatible  with  the  scope 
of  his  ambition.  He  secured  a  place  in  a  saw-mill  there,  and  worked  "at 
that  business  for  a  while,  when  he  sustained  a  serious  injury  which  made 
him  an  invalid  for  about  twelve  months.  During  this  time  he  had  ample 
opportunity  for  reflection,  and  at  last  determined  to  launch  out  into  the 
world  afresh.  He  concluded  to  come  to  Chicago,  where  he  hoped  to  find 
something  in  which  liis  strength  could  be  employed  to  better  advantage 
than  on  the  farm,  or  amid  the  ceaseless  whiz  of  the  saw-mill. 

In  November,  1845,  ]\Ir.  Hinsdale  stepped  from  the  deck  of  an  old 
schooner  to  the  dock  in  Chicago,  and  then  commenced  a  three  days'  search 
for  employment.  After  making  the  tour  of  almost  every  shop  in  the  city, 
he  succeeded  in  hiring  out  as  a  porter  for  one  month  in  the  retail  grocery 
store  of  J.  H.  Dnnham,  an  old  wooden  building  on  the  corner  of  South 
AVater  and  Dearborn  streets.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  had  given  sucli 
good  satisfaction  that  he  was  then  engaged  for  three  years,  at  a  rising 
salary  of  one  hundred  dollars,  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  two 
hundred  dollars,  and  received,  each  year  of  that  term,  an  additional  fiftv 
dollars  in  acknowledgment  of  his  faithful  attention  to  the  interests  of  his 
employer.  This  term  finished,  he  remained  two  years  longer  with  Mr. 
Dunham  as  clerk,  after  which  he,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  "William  R. 
Gould,  no"w  of  the  firm  of  Gould  Brothers,  bought  out  Mr.  Dunham,  and 
commenced  business  in  the  spring  of  1850,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Hinsdale  &  Gould,  with  an  annual  sale  list  of  about  t\vo  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  in  less  than  five  years  from  the  time  he  entered  Chicago 
as  a  poor  youth  glad  to  accept  a  situation  as  porter  at  eight  dollars  a 
month.  About  the  end  of  the  year,  the  firm  was  joined  by  Mr.  B.  F. 
Haddock.  This  partnership  continued  for  about  six  months,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  Messrs.  Hinsdale  and  Haddock  sold  out  their  interest  to 
Mr.  James  AVadsM'orth  and  Mr.  George  Hodges. 


I 


HENRY   W.  HINSDALE.  479 

Soon  after  disposing  of  his  stock  to  llinsclule  A:  Gould,  Mr.  Dunhaiu 
built  his  store  on  South  Water  street,  at  the  foot  of  Dearborn,  and  a.oiiiiK'd 
the  wholesale  trrocerv  business  on  his  own  account,  Mr.  Hinsdale's  rcliic- 
ment  was  an  opportunity  gladly  embraced  by  his  old  employer,  who, 
remembering  well  his  faithful  services,  and  highly  esteeming  liis  business 
qualifications,  secured  him  as  a  partner.  The  new  firm  of  J.  II.  Dunliam 
&  Co.  commenced  business  with  a  capital  of  thirty-two  tlutusand  dollars, 
and  their  sales  for  the  iirst  year  amounted  to  about  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  The  firm  continued  to  prosper,  each  succeeding  year  witnessing 
an  extension  of  their  circle  of  patronage,  and  widening  their  influence  in 
the  business  community.  In  1856,  Mr.  Dunham  retired  from  active 
participation  in  the  business,  his  general  interest  being  purchased  by 
Messrs.  J.  P.  Babcock  and  Hinsdale,  who  formed  a  new  partnership  under 
the  firm  name  of  Hinsdale  &  Babcock,  Mr.  Dunham  remaining  as  a 
special  partner. 

Three  years  later,  Messrs.  Dunham  and  Babcock  withdrew  entirely 
from  the  business,  and  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1860,  INIr.  Hinsdale 
took  in  as  partner  Mr.  S.  Sibley,  who  had  served  the  firm  faithfully  for 
the  past  seven  years.  In  1862,  the  firm  was  still  further  increased  by  the 
admission  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Stanley.  In  the  summer  of  the  same  year, 
Mr.  Hinsdale  bought  the  lot  at  the  northeast  corner  of  South  Water  and 
River  streets,  and  erected  thereon  the  magnificent  five-story  building,  fifty 
feet  front  by  eighty  feet  deep,  now  occupied  by  the  firm,  though  owned  by 
him  personally.  Two  years  later,  Mr.  Stanley  withdrew  from  the  firm, 
and  Mr.  W.  F.  Endicott  purchased  an  interest  and  assumed  the  financial 
management.  The  firm  at  this  time  had  a  capital  of  nearly  a  quarter  of 
a  million,  and  an  annual  sale  list  of  over  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  which  has  since  grown  to  more  than  two  millions. 
The  house  is  now,  as  it  has  always  been,  one  of  the  strongest  in  the  A\'est, 
and  one  of  the  most  influential.  Its  dealings  are  co-extensive  with  the 
spread  of  civilization  towards  the  setting  sun,  and  radiate  meridianwisc 
along  the  course  of  the  great  physical  artery  of  the  contint-nt.  As  the 
oldest  jobbing  house  in  the  city,  it  has  always  commanded  the  highest 
respect,  not  only  of  the  public,  but  of  the  trade;  while  the  high  business 
probity  of  the  firm  and  its  members  has  ever  been  a  sure  reliance  to 
parties  dealing  with  them,  amid  seasons  of  connnereial  darkness  and 
financial  storm.     That  confidence  has  been,  in  every  case,  amply  justified. 

Mr.  Hinsdale's  ambition  \\as  always  to  do  lus  large  a  business  as  could 


480  BIOGEAPHICAX,   SKETCHES. 

be  done  consistent  with  safety.  That  ambition  has  been  gratified.  For 
years  he  did  the  largest  business  in  the  city,  and  has  always  been  one  of 
the  largest  dealers  in  the  market.  To  his  efforts  is  largely  due  that 
tremendous  growth  which  has  raised  the  wholesale  grocery  business  of 
Chicago  from  tliree  to  fifty  millions  annually,  is  still  enlarging  it  towards 
what  some  may  think  to  be  fabulous  dimensions,  and  will,  at  no  distant 
day,  make  our  city  what  !N^ew  York  has  long  been — the  sole  receiving  and 
distributing  point  for  all  the  fertile  section  lying  west  of  her  meridian. 
It  is  noteworthy,  too,  that  what  ho  has  made  in  Chicago  he  has  invested 
here,  using  his  gains,  as  well  as  his  energies,  to  increase  the  wealth  of  the 
community  in  which  he  has  lived  and  labored. 

As  general  advisor  of  the  firm,  Mr.  Hinsdale  has  always  set  his  face 
against  the  "drummer"  system,  preferring  to  deal  safely,  and  give  to  his 
unsolicited  patrons  the  benefit  of  the  money  expended  by  some  others  in 
this  costly  mode  of  lumting  up  custom.  This  determination  is  an  index 
of  his  character;  he  is  inflexible  in  his  adhesion  to  what  he  deems  to  be 
right,  and  neither  allows  the  practices  or  persuasions  of  others  to  influence 
his  decisions.  Standing  high  in  the  confidence  of  all  from  whom  he 
makes  purchases,  Mr.  Hinsdale  insists  on  dealing  with  none  but  those 
who  can  be  similarly  honored  by  liim.  Those  Avhoni  he  regards  as 
worthy  of  esteem  never  yet  had  occasion  to  question  the  liberality — much 
less  the  justice — of  his  dealings,  while  others  are  not  permitted  to  have 
the  chance  of  fault-finding,  being  kept  at  a  respectful  distance.  He  is  a 
man  of  marked  promptitude  and  decision  of  character,  and  exjjccts  to 
meet  with  the  same  qualities  in  others.  In  conversation  he  is  genial  and 
off-hand,  saying  just  the  thing  he  means  to  be  understood,  and  in  no  more 
words  than  are  necessary.  His  heart  is  emphatically  in  the  right  place, 
always  open  to  the  tale  of  distress.  He  gave  liberally  to  the  support  of 
our  brave  soldiers  during  the  war,  and  has  aided  many  a  private  case  of 
destitution  which  has  not  been  heralded  to  the  public. 

]Mr.  Hinsdale  was  married  in  Chicago,  April  19,  1852,  to  Miss  Eliza 
J.  Chatfield,  of  this  city,  formerly  from  Batavia,  New  York.  The  union 
has  been  blessed  with  five  children,  of  whom  two  sons  and  one  daughter 
are  now  living.  He  is  a  member  of  Grace  Episcopal  Church,  and  is 
highly  respected  by  his  fellow  members,  who  have  shown  their  confidence 
in  him,  by  electing  him  as  Warden  for  four  years  past. 


HARRY  FOX. 


Twelve  years  ago,  -what  is  now  the  city  of  Cliicago  was  little  better 
than  a  puddle.  The  city  had  grown  largely  out  of  her  primeval  nothing- 
ness, but  it  was  the  growth  of  deformity,  one  of  lateral  spread,  not 
upwards.  Her  excelsior  movement  had  not  commenced,  and  the  difference 
in  point  of  altitude  between  the  street  grade  and  the  river  bed  was  more  a 
matter  of  calculation  than  of  fact.  The  river  was  then  a  tortuous  channel 
whose  waters  meandered  sluggishly  through  the  midst  of  the  mire,  the 
progress  of  vessels  every  now  and  then  olistructcd  by  jutting  peninsulas 
at  the  sides,  and  islands  of  mud  in  the  middle,  while  the  baid<s  were  mere 
earth  slopes,  and  the  entrance  was  blocked  up  by  a  sand-bar,  around  which 
vessels  were  obliged  to  deploy  on  entering  or  leaving  the  harl)or,  a  mile  to 
the  southward,  in  great  danger  of  wreck  whenever  the  wind  blew  towards 
the  shore.  The  commercial  greatness  of  the  city  was  at  that  time  authori- 
tatively declared  as  a  certainty  in  the  future,  but  the  ways  and  means  had 
not  been  provided.  Cargoes  were  loaded  and  unloaded  with  difliculty 
where  the  streets  were  sluices,  the  dock-lines  were  abstractions,  the  channel 
almost  impassable.  A  vast  amount  of  work  had  to  be  done  to  bring  the 
city  to  its  proper  level,  whence  its  merchants  could  handle  the  stn-am  of 
material  whose  ceaseless  flow  had  even  then  set  in  towards  Chicago,  ami 
was  destined  to  roll  onwards  in  a  never  ebbing  tide.  The  task  was  a 
Herculean  one,  but  it  has  more  than  been  accomplished,  and  largely 
through  the  potential  labors  of  one  man. 

About  this  time  a  stranger  came  to  the  city,  and  looked  around  on  (he 
scene.  He  saw  w^ork  to  be  done,  and  determined  to  emjjloy  his  talents  in 
the  effort  to  carry  out  the  manifest  destiny  of  Chicago.  That  man  waa 
Harry  Fox.     He  brought  with  him  a  steam  dredge,  and  commenced  to 


482  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

straiffhteu  the  river.  Since  then  he  has  hibored  continuouslv,  until  the 
strong  arms  of  the  ponderous  machinery  have  cleared  out  the  channel, 
added  many  miles  to  its  extent,  opened  out  a  passage  through  the  bar, 
enclosed  the  channel  with  long  lines  of  timbers,  and  made  a  solid  bank  of 
land  along  the  sides  of  the  newly  defined  river,  on  which  rest  billions 
of  tons  of  tlie  products  of  human  labor,  while  the  passage  across  the 
stream  is  eiFected  almost  solely  over  the  numerous  bridges  which  span 
the  waters,  placed  there  by  the  firm  of  which  he  is  the  senior  partner. 

Mr.  Fox  was  born  in  "Westfield,  Massachusetts,  on  the  29th  of 
September,  1826,  the  son  of  Hiram  Fox,  a  mechanic  in  that  town.  At  a 
very  earlv  age,  Harry  displayed  a  remarkable  talent  for  working  in 
machinery,  and,  in  1844,  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  machinist's  trade  in 
his  native  town.  Two  years  afterwards,  he  was  sent  out  wdth  a  steam 
excavator — the  first  one  built — to  work  on  the  Northern  New  Hampshire 
Railroad,  and  handled  the  machine  Avith  such  success  that  it  was  decided 
for  him  to  continue  operating  it  instead  of  going  back  to  the  shop.  From 
that  time  forth,  he  was  exclusively  identified  with  the  operation  of  exca- 
vating earth  by  steam,  and  was  employed  on  several  railroads  for  the  next 
ten  years,  the  last  being  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  of  Canada.  In  1856, 
he  came  to  Chicago,  and  entered  into  partnership  Avith  the  Avell-remem- 
bered  John  P.  Chapin,  with  whom  he  undertook  the  work  of  dredging 
out  the  Chicago  river,  at  the  junction  of  the  two  branches,  cutting  off  the 
old  bend,  and  widening  and  deepening  the  channel.  By  the  letting  of  the 
contract,  the  firm  was  obliged  to  carry  the  earth  out  into  the  lake,  but  the 
practical  eye  of  Mr.  Fox  quickly  discerned  that  it  was  Avanted  to  raise  the 
grade  of  the  city,  and,  on  his  suggestion,  the  material  dredged  out  A\'as 
used  as  filling  for  the  streets;  and  thus  Avas  commenced  the  process  of 
lifting  up  Chicago  bodily  to  its  present  position  of  seA'^eral  feet  aboA'e  the 
original  prairie  level.  All  the  streets  from  Madison  street  to  the  riA'er, 
including  the  Court-House  Square,  Avere  thus  furnished  Avith  a  coating 
of  earth,  and  the  Avisdom  of  the  course  Avas  so  apparent,  that  the  ATork 
of  filling  up  has  CA'er  since  been  made  a  prominent  feature  of  our  city 
improA'ements.  In  1860,  ]Mr.  Fox  dissolved  his  connection  Avitli  Mr. 
Chapin,  and  formed  a  copartnership  Avith  AV.  B.  Howard,  Esq.,  his  present 
partner,  who,  being  a  practical  bridge-builder,  enabled  the  ncAv  firm  to 
take  a  Avider  range  in  the  conduct  of  public  Avorks,  completing  the  idea 
of  not  only  making  excavations,  but  of  rendering  them  passable. 

The  history  of  the  firm  of  Fox  &  Howard  is  in  reality  the  history  of 


IIATIRY    FOX.  483 

the  topographical  improvement  of  Chicago,  while  their  labors  in  this 
direction  have  extended  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  city,  reaching  over 
a  large  portion  of  the  West.  The  Chicago  harbor  is  the  work  of  their 
machinery,  and  of  the  hands  whose  operations  they  have  directed.  The 
first  important  undertaking  was  to  open  up  the  North  Branch  of  the 
river,  from  Chicago  avenue  to  a  point  above  Nickerson's  distillery — a 
distance  of  about  two  miles — and  sub.-<:equently  to  cut  through  the  Ogden 
Canal  from  Chicago  avenue  to  North  avenue,  the  diagonal  of  an  entire 
section.  They  next  turned  their  attention  to  the  South  Branch,  and 
made  it  navigable  for  vessels  for  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the 
starting  pomt  at  Halstead  street.  Then  came  the  deepening  of  the  old 
channel,  the  straightening  of  its  banks,  and  the  lining  of  those  banks  with 
long  rows  of  piling,  making  dockage  where  before  had  been  nothing  but 
a  useless  slope  of  earth.  In  all,  they  have  built  about  fifteen  miles 
of  dock  line  along  the  Chicago  River. 

With  this,  another  difficulty  needed  to  be  met.  The  sand,  washed 
down  from  the  northeast  by  the  Lake  currents,  had  formed  a  bar  across 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  extending  to  Van  Buren  street,  and  lengthening 
out  and  closing  up  towards  the  shore  each  year,  threatening,  at  no  distant 
day,  to  close  up  the  passage  altogether,  and  making  at  that  time  the  j)ath 
of  vessels  very  tortuous  and  dangerous.  But  the  emergency  was  met. 
The  steam  dredge  was  set  to  work,  and  its  ponderous  leverages  scooped 
out  the  sand  from  its  resting  place,  giving  a  straight  road  out  round  the 
pier — now  known  as  the  north  passage.  And  this  was  but  a  part  of  the 
work.  An  extension  of  the  north  pier  was  demanded,  carrying  out  its 
eastern  terminus  into  deep  water.  This,  too,  was  accomplished,  and  the 
Chicago  harbor  became  in  reality  what  it  had  hitherto  been  but  in  name. 
This  improvement  involved  the  removal  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  cubic  yards  of  sand,  and  the  building  of  four  hundred  and 
thirty  lineal  feet  of  pier.  Simultaneously  with  the  labors  above  noted, 
the  firm  was  actively  engaged  in  providing  for  the  i)assage  of  pedestrians 
and  vehicles  across  the  river,  and  constructed  nearly  all  the  bridges  which 
span  the  stream  and  its  branches.  Their  list  includes  l)ridg('s  at  Hush, 
State,  Clark,  Lake  (two).  Van  Buren,  Halstead  (two),  and  Kinzie  streets, 
Chicago  and  Clybourne  avenues,  and  the  Milwaukee  llailroad  bridge — 
twelve  in  all.  They  are  among  the  most  substantial  structures  ever  put 
up  in  the  West,  and  as  models  of  strength,  combined  with  lightness,  have 
often  been  spoken  of  by  engineers  from  other  cities. 


484  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  improvement  of  the  river  found  its  appropriate  sequel  in  the  work 
on  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  which  the  firm  undertook  some  two 
years  ago,  and  have  since  that  steadily  pushed  forward,  having,  up  to  the 
close  of  1867,  finished  something  like  four  miles  in  length,  which  has 
necessitated  the  removal  of  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  cubic 
yards  of  earth.  On  this  work  five  steam  dredges,  and  as  many  steam 
derricks,  have  been  employed  during  the  operating  season,  and  a  large 
force  of  men,  whose  labor  has  been  watched  with  curious  eyes  by  hundreds, 
as  they  have  scooped  up  the  slimy  material  from  the  bed  of  the  canal, 
and  deposited  it  away  out  beyond  the  margin  of  the  channel,  leaving  a 
wide  space  between  for  a  tow-path.     The  work  is  still  in  progress. 

Immense  as  has  been  the  extent  of  the  firm's  labors  in  Chicago,  their 
operations  have  been  very  far  from  finding  a  boundary  in  the  territorial 
limits  of  this  city.  Their  dredges  have  been  employed  in  rectifying 
the  natural  or  acquired  defects  in  many  of  the  other  harbors  on  Lake 
INIichigan,  those  more  recently  undertaken  being  White  River,  Pentwater, 
Pere  Marquette  and  ]\Ianistee.  Their  railroad  bridges  are  found  all  over 
the  South ;  and,  more  northerly,  there  are  those  over  the  Fox  River,  at 
Green  Bay — fourteen  hundred  feet  long — and  across  the  Illinois  River, 
at  Pekin.  Two  years  ago,  the  firm  undertook  the  work  of  filling  up 
Cairo,  bringing  its  streets  to  grade,  and  have  now  over  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  invested  in  their  operations  there.  Altogether,  they  now 
employ  from  six  to  eight  hundred  men,  their  pay-rolls  averaging  upwards 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  per  month — an  increase  of  a  hundred 
fold  on  the  force  employed  by  Mr.  Fox  on  his  first  contract  with  this  city. 
His  energy  and  skill  have  met  their  reward,  though  like  many  other 
public  benefactors,  Mr.  Fox  has  not  been  paid  in  proportion  to  the 
services  he  has  rendered  the  community  among  whom  he  has  labored. 

Mr.  Fox  is  a  strong,  healthy  man,  of  genial  temperament,  easy  address, 
quick  perceptions,  and  eternal  vigilance.  He  is  familiar  with  every  detail 
of  the  multifarious  operations  going  on  in  his  employ,  and  watches  and 
directs,  personally,  even  to  the  repair  of  a  piece  of  machinery.  He  is 
outspoken  in  his  enunciations,  and  thoroughly  honest  in  his  dealings,  doing 
all  that  he  agrees  to  do,  and  in  a  way  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  found 
fluilt  with.  He  married,  in  1852,  a  daughter  of  Colonel  M.  Chamberlain, 
of  Newberry,  Vermont.  He  has  two  children  living,  aged  respectively 
nine  and  five  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Unity  Church, 
and  one  of  the  warmest  supporters  of  the  cause. 


JOHN  C.  DORE. 


There  are  few  among  the  noteworthy  men  of  Cliicago  who  have  done 
more  for  lier  welfare,  and  lew  whose  influence  for  good  will  be  more 
lastingly  felt,  than  John  C.  Bom:,  Esq.,  the  first  Superintendent  of 
Public  Schools  of  this  city,  and  the  organizer  of  our  i)resent  excellent 
system  of  public  instruction.  Since  the  time  of  his  educational  labors, 
he  has  achieved  eminence  in  other  respects — has  gained  high  commercial 
position,  and  been  honored  by  the  choice  of  our  Jioard  of  Trade  as  it; 
President — but  it  is  as  the  organizing  educatftr  that  his  name  will  i)e 
remembered  and  his  character  revered  by  future  generations, 

All*.  Dore  was  born,  March  22,  1822,  at  Ossipee,  New  Hampshire,  on 
the  homestead  of  his  father,  a  substantial  fiirmer  of  sterlintr  irood  sense. 
His  parents  were  Ezekiel  and  Abigail  Dore,  descendants  from,  and 
genuine  representatives  of,  the  old  Puritan  slock,  John's  early  vears 
were  spent  in  hard  work,  and  his  educational  advantages  were  exceedingly 
limited.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  sent  to  school,  and  studied  hard, 
making  such  good  progress  that  before  he  had  attained  his  seventeenth 
year  he  was  pronounced  capable  of  teaching  district  school.  He  assumed 
the  responsible  jjosition,  but  continued  his  studies,  his  ambition  being  to 
obtain  a  collegiate  education.  After  years  of  arduous  labor,  .spending  in 
seclusion  the  hours  which  by  othirs  were  devoted  to  leisure,  he  cnteretl 
Dartmouth  College,  There  he  soon  became  noted  for  his  studious  habits, 
his  })ainstaking  a[)plieation,  his  unilbnn  correctness,  and,  as  a  consetpience, 
raidced  high  in  his  cla.sses.  He  had  no  favorite  study — none  that  was 
prosecuted  to  the  neglect  of  any  other.  He  won  for  himself  the  proud 
distinction  of  being  equally  perfect  in  all  the  portions  of  the  currietduin, 
and  Ljraduated  with  hi«;h  honor  in  1<S47. 


486  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Thence  to  Boston,  where  he  engaged  in  the  work  of  teaching  for 
several  years,  finally  attaining  the  position  of  Principal  of  the  Boylston 
School,  where  he  gained  golden  opinions  as  a  thorongh  educator,  who  was 
master  of  the  art  of  arrangement,  as  well  as  of  mere  instruction.  The 
school,  under  his  regime,  was  the  embodiment  of  method,  and  was  often 
quoted  as  a  model.  His  fame  reached  Chicago,  then  just  engaged  in 
evolving  order  out  of  the  chaos  of  independent  tuition.  In  November, 
1853,  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  of  the  city  of 
Chicago  was  created,  and  tlie  Board  of  School  Inspectors  unanimously 
invited  Mr.  Dore  to  accept  the  place  and  begin  the  work. 

The  offer  was  accepted,  and  Mr.  Dore  immediately  came  out  "West  and 
entered  on  the  duties  of  his  office.  He  found  here  seven  public  schools, 
in  which  there  were  three  or  four  thousand  pupils,  while,  at  least,  twice 
that  number  of  children  of  suitable  school  age  were  without  any  instruc- 
tion. There  seemed  to  be  no  plan  of  operation,  every  teacher  being,  left 
free  to  do  as  in  the  times  when  "there  was  no  king  in  Israel,"  and  "every 
man  did  that  which  Avas  right  in  the  sight  of  his  own  eyes."  Mr.  Dore 
commenced  at  the  beginning;  he  made  personal  examination  of  the  pupils, 
and  on  the  results  of  this  inquiry,  he  based  a  system  of  classification 
similar  to  that  used  in  the  Boston  schools.  The  examination  showed  that 
the  pujjils  were  moderately  conversant  with  the  mysteries  of  numbers  as 
far  as  fractions,  that  they  had  an  average  knowledge  of  spelling  and 
geography,  but  that  English  grammar  was  "  almost  a  sealed  book,"  and 
the  numerous  other  branches  were  unattempted  in  the  absence  of  higher 
classes.  The  value  of  the  "Boston  classification"  was  soon  shown  in  the 
increased  efficiency  of  the  teachers,  and  the  more  rapid  advancement  of 
the  scholars.  That  division  into  grades  and  assignment  of  studies  was  the 
foundation  of  the  present  educational  system  of  Chicago,  which  has  in  its 
turn  been  quoted  and  patterned  after  by  the  older  communities  of  the  East. 

The  appointment  of  Mr.  Dore  Avas  among  the  last  important  acts  of 
the  Board  of  School  Inspectors.  That  body  passed  out  of  existence  soon 
after  his  arrival  in  the  city,  and  gave  place  to  the  Board  of  Education, 
which  has  ever  since  governed  the  schools,  subject  only  to  the  Common 
Council  in  pecuniary  matters.  On  consultation  with  the  Superintendent, 
the  Board  decided  to  add  to  the  number  of  schools  and  to  build  a  High 
School,  the  erection  of  which  was  commenced  the  following  year.  The 
plans  of  general  arrangement  for  this  and  the  Foster,  Brown,  Moseley  and 
one  or  two  others  were  furnished  by  Mr.  Dore.     The  High  School  Avas 


JOHN    C.   DORE.  487 

intended  to  comprise  three  departments — the  English  High,  the  Normal 
and  the  Classical,  and,  at  that  early  day,  a  Model  Scliool  was  talked  of 
in  connection  -with  the  Normal  dcjxn-tnicnt  for  the  more  thorough  prepara- 
tion of  teachers  for  their  work.  Mr.  Dore  resigned  his  position  after  two 
yeai*s  of  labor,  but  in  that  short  time  he  had  effected  a  complete  revolution. 
He  found  chaos,  he  left  order.  He  came  among  individual,  undirected, 
unstimulated  effort ;  he  left  an  enlarged,  systematized,  graded,  competitive 
organization,  in  which  errors  were  eliminated  by  constant  comparison,  and 
the  great  educational  problem  reduced  to  a  simple  equation  of  known 
quantities.  In  1854,  the  public  schools  of  Chicago  were  simply  places 
for  the  gathering  of  children,  the  keeping  of  the  younger  ones  out  of 
"harm's  way,"  and  teaching  tlie  older  ones  a  smattering  of  the  three  R's, 
"reading,  'riting,  and  'rithmetic."  In  1856,  the  schools  had  become 
training  places  for  the  young,  real  mental  gymnasiums,  while  in  the 
higher  departments,  a  course  of  instruction  was  being  commmiicated  which 
fitted  the  recipients  to  become,  in  turn,  instructors  of  so  high  an  order 
that  their  services  should  be  eagerly  sought  from  abroad. 

Mr.  Dore  gave  up  his  position  as  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  to 
engage  in  mercantile  pursuits,  but  his  knoM'ledge  of  school  routine  Avas 
too  valuable  to  be  altogether  dispensed  witli.  He  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  four  or  five 
years.  He  was  President  of  that  body  during  one  year.  One  of  the 
finest  school-houses  in  the  city  now  bears  his  name.  He  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business,  and  has  since  been  known  as  a  large  operator  in  this 
material,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 
The  high  appreciation  of  his  character  by  his  business  associates  on 
'Change  was  shown  in  his  election  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
in  1866,  a  position  which  lie  filled  with  marked  credit  to  himself,  and  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  Board.  He  has  been,  for  several  years  past, 
the  President  of  the  Commercial  Insurance  Company,  one  of  the  soundest 
and  most  reliable  of  our  home  institutions.  xVs  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Underwriters,  he  has  always  been  noted  i'ov  his  great  good  sense  in 
the  management  of  difficult  questions,  and  the  thorough  straightfor- 
wardness of  his  course.  These  qualities  have  secured  fi)r  him  the  esteem 
of  his  fellow  members  in  a  marked  degree,  and  their  endorsement  in 
electing  him  last  spring  to  j)reside  over  their  deliberations  during  tlie 
current  year. 

Mr.  Dore  was  married,  in  1850,  to  ^Miss  Annie  B.  Morton,  daughter 


488  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  Dr.  Alvah  Morton,  of  Ossipee,  New  Hampshire,  a  prominent  physician 
of  that  section.  He  has  no  chikh'en  living.  The  prominent  features  in 
his  character  are  easily  recognizable  in  his  history.  The  strong  points  are 
thorough  conscientiousness,  soundness  of  judgment,  clearness  in  discrimi- 
nation, and  perfect  fairness  in  giving  due  weight  and  credit  to  a  statement, 
a  fact,  or  an  individual.  He  is  a  man  of  complete  culture,  educated  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  term,  without  showy  accomplishments,  or  any  of  the 
scintillations  of  what  is  sometimes  called  genius,  he  can  fairly  lay  claim  to 
the  equable  culture  of  every  faculty,  and  the  ability  to  deal  with  one 
subject  as  well  as  an  other.  He  is  pleasant  and  engaging  in  manner, 
Avithout  a  spice  of  flattery;  sincere  and  frank  in  his  enunciations,  quiet 
in  demeanor,  but  forcible;  thorough  in  his  work,  never  leaving  undone 
that  which  can  be  finished.  He  is  one  of  the  very  few  in  whose  word 
implicit  reliance  is  placed  by  his  acquaintances,  and  who  Avas  never  yet 
suspected  of  an  intent  to  deceive. 


JAMES  H.  BOWEN. 


The  generation  of  workers  who  have  developed  the  Chicago  of  to-day 
from  its  recent  primordial  nothingness,  is  numerons;  their  labors  almost 
beyond  recount;  in  magnitude  great  as  those  of  Hercules.  It  has  been 
by  no  ordinary  combination  of  effort  that  the  Garden  City  has  distanced 
so  many  competitors  to  whom  she  had  given  so  many  years  of  starting 
vantage  in  the  race.  Of  those  who  have  increased  her  capacity  at  home; 
or  spread  her  influence  abroad,  there  are  many  to  whom  the  proud  muni- 
cipality of  to-day  is  greatly  indebted.  But  that  noble  army  of  workers 
has  its  front  and  rear  ranks;  and  these  again,  their  more  prominent  color- 
bearers — men  who  carry  the  emblem  of  triumph  ahead,  and,  planting  it 
on  ground  to  be  occupied,  show  where  others  may  follow.  He  whose 
tireless  activity  and  business  sagacity  not  only  gather  his  own  capital 
without  loan  or  heritage,  but,  on  that  builds  up  a  business  ramifying  into 
every  section  of  the  great  West,  involving  an  annual  balance  sheet  whose 
magnitude  even  the  merchants  of  the  older  seaboard  cities  Avould  regard 
as  princely,  and  who  commands  for  the  city  and  section  of  his  choice  that 
recognition  everywhere  which  is  its  due;  such  a  man  lias  few  equals  in 
influence,  even  among  those  to  whom  we  look  up  as  wortliy  of  honor. 

This  distinction  may  be  fairly  claimed  for  Colonel  Bowen,  whose  own 
hands  have  brought  him  up  to  a  high  position  from  that  of  the  store-boy, 
clerk,  managing  agent,  and  retail  proprietor,  to  stand  at  the  head  of  a  Arm 
whose  name  occupies  a  place  among  the  three  which  lead  the  proud  list 
of  Western  merchants,  and  whose  recent  exertions  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  so  largely  contributed  to  make  tlie  name  and  fame  of  the  United 
States  and  Chicago  familiar  as  household  words  in  the  mouths  of  the 
people  of  tlie  Old  AVorld, 

James  H.  Bowen  was  born  March  7,  1822,  in  tlie  town  of  Manheim, 


490 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


Herkimer  County,  New  York.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  fomily  of 
eight  children.  His  parents  were  of  Xew  England  Puritanic  stock, 
devoted  Christians,  and  gave  careful  attention  to  the  early  education  and 
proper  moral  training  of  their  children.  Until  fourteen  years  of  age  he 
assisted  his  father  in  his  business  as  carpenter,  joiner  and  cabinet-maker 
of  the  small  country  town  of  Manheim,  attending  the  common  school 
of  the  locality  at  suitable  interval;^.  On  the  6th  day  of  May,  1836,  he 
accepted  a  situation  as  clerk  in  a  store  and  post  office  near  his  home, 
commencing  on  a  salary  of  thirty  dollars  per  year,  for  which  compensation 
he  tended  the  counter,  kept  books,  drove  team,  and  made  himself  generally 
useful.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  situation  was  offered  to  him  on 
account  of  his  supposed  peculiar  fitness  for  its  duties,  and  general  aptitude; 
it  formed  not  only  the  beginning,  but  the  pattern  of  an  active  life. 

After  three  years  of  acceptable  service,  he  transferred  his  place  to  a 
younger  brother,  and  took  another  situation  at  Little  Falls,  Xew  York, 
commencing  with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars,  board  and  washing,  ])er 
year.  He  Avas  soon  noted  as  a  young  man  of  special  activity  and  adaptation 
to  business,  and  in  a  short  period  was  placed  in  direction  of  one  of  the 
largest  houses  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  Three  years  more,  and 
while  vet  a  minor,  he  became  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Wool 
Growers'  Manuflicturing  Company,  located  at  Little  Falls,  the  head  of  his 
business  firm  being  the  agent  of  the  mill,  which  employed  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pairs  of  hands,  and  consumed  one  thousand  pounds  of  wool 
daily.  While  in  this  position  he  became  the  first  agent  of  the  American 
Express  Company  at  that  place. 

From  1842  to  1846,  his  whole  energies  were  bent  on  his  business,  and 
his  whole  time  occupied  in  the  exhaustive  labors  which  it  devolved  upon 
hini.  Then  the  severe  confinement  and  arduous  exertions  began  to  tell, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  make  a  change.  This  he  did  on  the  1st  of  July 
of  the  latter  year,  removing  to  Jefferson  County,  New  York,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  general  merchandise  business,  at  the  same  time  filling 
the  position  of  Post  Master  and  Assistant  United  States  Marshal,  and 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  public  aifairs  of  that  portion  of  the  State. 
In  INIay,  1853,  he  closed  his  business  there,  and  engaged  in  a  leading 
commercial  house  in  Albany,  New  York,  and  remained  until  1857,  when 
he  removed  to  Chicago.  Though  not  personally  present,  he  had  for  some 
time  previous  had  considerable  capital  invested  in  the  AYest — the  fruit  of 
his  own  toil. 


1 


JAMES   H.   BO  WEN.  401 

On  the  first  of  July  in  that  year  of  financial  crash  ami  commercial 
disaster,  and  only  two  months  before  the  storm-cloud  burst,  James  H., 
in  company  with  his  brothers,  George  S.  and  Chauncey  T.,  commenced 
business  in  the  store  No.  72  Lake  street,  under  the  firm  name  of  Bowen 
Brothers — since  so  well  known  and  so  widely  respected.  The  capital  of 
the  new  firm  wa«  thirty  thousand  dollars;  its  business,  crockery  and 
jobbing  of  dry  goods,  the  ibrmer  stock  occuj)ying  the  street  floor,  and  the 
latter  the  floors  above.  Scarcely  had  they  .shaken  out  their  sails  to  the 
breeze  ere  the  storm  burst  in  all  its  well-remembered  fiuy.  The  shock 
was  a  severe  one,  but  it  was  nobly  met.  The  little  vessel  had  been 
judiciously  ballasted  and  its  rigging  well  secured;  and  though  she 
labored  heavily  in  the  rough  sea,  she  lost  not  a  foot  of  her  canvas,  and 
was  soon  making  gallant  headway  over  the  waves  which  bore  past  her 
the  wreck  of  many  a  noble  craft.  Business  steadily  increased;  for  the 
firm  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  community.  The  result  of  the  first 
year's  business  was  a  sale  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars;  and  during 
the  four  years  of  difficulty  and  distress  to  so  many  others,  it  placed 
itself  on  a  solid  basis  of  mercantile  greatness.  So  judiciously  had  the 
aftairs  of  the  house  been  handled  that,  when  the  war  came,  with  its 
rapid  appreciation  of  values  and  large  demands  for  goods,  it  found  Bowen 
Brothers  prepared  to  take  the  highest  advantage  of  the  situation,  and  to 
meet  all  its  requirements.  The  business  grew  apace  under  their  unwearied 
vigilance,  their  ceaseless  attention  and  judicious  management,  till,  in  1859, 
it  was  needed  to  appropriate  also  the  stores  Nos.  74  and  76.  In  1863, 
their  business  had  attained  to  such  proportions  as  to  make  necessary  a 
removal  to  much  larger  quarters.  The  two  mammoth  stores,  Nos.  19  and 
21  Lake  street,  were  secured,  and  filled  from  attic  to  basement  with  goods. 
And  still  tiic  business  grew,  until  the  books  of  the  firm  exhibited  an 
annual  list  of  seven  millions  of  dollars  in  sales,  on  a  cash  basis — an 
amount  large  enough  to  aggregate  the  transactions  of  a  dozen  first-class 
firms,  and  still  leave  a  respectable  margin  for  contingencies. 

In  1866,  Bowen  Brothers  erected  the  magnificent  five  story  marble 
block,  Nos.  15,  17,  19,  21,  23,  25,  27  and  29  Kandolj)!!  street,  known  as 
"Bowens'  Building,"  at  a  cost  of  about  four  hundred  tlioiisand  dollars, 
having  previously  built  the  three  stone-front  residences,  Nos.  124,  125  and 
126  Michigan  avenue,  wliei'e  the  three  brothers  now  re.-ide,  iiext-(l<»or 
neighbors,  their  families  being  on  the  .eaine  terms  of  intimate  harmcMiy 
which  always  characterized  the  transactions  of  the  troin  frvrcs.     The  block 


492  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

completed,  the  business  was  transferred  thither,  and  another  change 
effected;  Mr.  James  H.  and  Chauncey  T.  Bowen  retiring  from  active 
participation,  and  assuming  the  place  of  special  partners,  the  business 
being  continued,  in  all  its  branches,  by  the  newly-organized  firm  of 
Bowen,  Whitman  &  Winslow. 

Mr.  Bowen's  successful  business  career  in  this  city  has  been  well 
marked,  but  it  has  been  very  far  from  absorbing  the  whole  of  his  activities. 
As  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and,  soon  thereafter,  of  the  Mercantile 
Association,  he  was  early  noted  for  the  interest  he  took  in  the  discussion 
of  commercial  questions,  his  enlarged  and  liberal  views  on  those  subjects, 
and  the  readiness  he  exhibited  in  working  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
measures  deemed  to  be  beneficial.  During  the  financial  troubles  of  1857 
to  1861,  he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  endeavor  to  avert  disaster  to  the 
country  from  its  financial  troubles,  and  advocated  the  extension  of  our 
commercial  facilities  in  every  possible  way.  He  gave  his  ardent  support 
to  the  National  Bank  programme,  and  the  Third  National  Bank  of  this 
city,  one  of  the  first  organized,  assumed  a  leading  position  under  his 
direction  as  president.  Fully  appreciating  the  wants  of  the  banking 
interests  of  the  city,  and  the  requirements  of  the  vast  volume  of  trade 
triennially  doubling  in  our  midst,  he  made  a  special  movement  in  favor 
of  an  organized  system  of  bank  exchanges,  which  resulted  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Chicago  Clearing  House  Association.  As  an  active  member 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  he  has  been  noted  for  his  hearty  endorsement  of 
every  measure  advocated  by  that  body  for  the  extension  of  the  business 
relations  of  this  city,  and  the  members  of  the  first  Pacific  Eailway 
Excursion  will  not  soon  forget  the  part  taken  by  him  on  tlie  return 
through  Chicago,  he  supplying  many  deficiencies  of  arrangements  which 
had  been  unnoted  in  the  hurry  of  the  arrival.  Nor  was  his  patriotism 
less  active  than  his  commercial  sagacity.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Union 
Defence  Committee,  which  body  organized  the  Chicago  regiments  for  the 
field  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  war,  and  gave  largely  of  his  time  and 
money  to  help  forward  the  c-ause  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all.  On  the  election 
of  General  Oglesby,  as  Governor  of  Illinois,  in  November,  1864,  Mr. 
Bowen  was  appointed  a  member  of  his  staff,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel, 
and  contributed  valuable  aid  in  the  reception  and  welcome  home  of  the 
numerous  bodies  of  troops  that  were  discharged  from  service  in  Chicago, 
or  passed  through  this  city  on  their  way  homewards.  jNIost  of  those  men 
arrived  here  while  the  last  Sanitary  Fair  was  in  progress,  and  many  of  the 


JAMES    H.    BOWEN.  493 

ladies  who  had  worked  so  nobly  for  the  biavt-  boys  before,  were  necessarily 
confined  to  the  care  of  their  departments,  and  unable  to  aid  in  fecdin<; 
"the  boys  in  blue."  Colonel  Bowen  was  indefatigable,  and  to  his  fore- 
thought and  exertions  in  their  midst,  the  veterans  owe  much  of  the 
material  welcome  that  greeted  them  here.  He  also  filled  a  prominent 
position  in  the  arrangements  for  the  conveying  of  the  remains  of  President 
Lincoln  from  AVashington  to  Springfield. 

On  retiring  from  active  business  in  January,  1867,  Colonel  Bowen, 
whose  attention  had  been  for  some  time  previous  drawn  to  the  importance 
of  securing  to  Illinois  and  the  Northwest  a  prominent  place  in  the  great 
Paris  Exposition,  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  this  object,  urging  the 
collection  and  forwarding  of  specimens  of  Western  products  and  A\'estern 
skill,  and  giving  his  personal  efforts  to  the  work.  As  United  States 
Commissioner  to  the  Exposition  he  visited  Paris  in  the  spring,  and 
remained  there  during  the  Exposition,  fully  six  months,  everv  Avaking 
moment  of  which  was  consecrated  to  the  task  of  showing  to  the  people 
of  the  old  world  the  magnificent  groundwork,  and  the  grand  progress 
achieved  thereon,  in  this  far  off  region,  which,  within  the  memory  of  many 
of  them,  was  but  a  ierra  incognita.  In  the  face  of  great  discouragements  he 
achieved  wonders,  exhibiting  to  the  visitors  there,  by  model,  sample,  and 
otherwise,  the  leading  features  of  this  great  section,  setting  in  motion 
trains  of  thought  which  will  materially  benefit  us  and  them,  and  com- 
manding the  interested  attention,  not  only  of  the  masses,  but  of  manv  of 
the  magnates  of  Europe.  That  Illinois  school-house  and  farm-house  will 
long  be  remembered,  while  the  statistics  of  the  country,  and  especially  of 
Chicago,  there  presented,  have  made  a  lasting  impression  for  good. 

Colonel  Bowen  was  married,  in  September,  1843,  to  Aliss  Caroline  A. 
Smith,  and  has  four  children,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Ira,  is  a  young  man 
of  considerable  promise.     The  family  attend  the  Epi.scopal  Church. 

Personally,  Colonel  Bowen  is  a  man  a  little  above  the  middle  height, 
of  spare  build,  florid  complexion,  quick  eye,  penetrating  look,  a  rapid 
tongue,  a  firm  will,  an  active  hand,  and  a  brain  brim  full  of  facts  and 
ruiming  over  with  intelligence.  He  is  a  Inin  bdievci-  in  the  future 
growth  of  Chicago,  regarding  the  city  as  yet  in  its  childhood,  and  destined 
to  be  the  commercial  centre  of  the  continent.  He  is  a  man  of  abstemious 
habits  and  generous  impulses,  and  exacts  the  same  rigid  adherence  to 
principle  from  others  which  has  been  the  watchword  of  liis  action  throutrh 
a  hiu;hlv  successful  life. 


FREELAND  B.  GARDNER. 


It  is  a  pleasant  task  to  give  au  outline  of  the  Hie  of  a  successful 
business  man,  especially  when  all  aoknowledge  that  his  success  has  been 
fairly  earned.  Of  some  men,  the  less  one  knows  the  better;  but  the  life 
of  an  honest,  earnest  worker,  who  by  a  clear  head,  persistent  etlbrt,  and 
manly  dealing  has  risen  to  the  first  rank  in  his  particular  calling,  always 
contains  useful  suggestions  for  the  young,  and  incentives  to  nobler  living 
for  all. 

Freeland  B,  Gardner  was  born  in  the  town  of  Elbridge,  Onondaga 
County,  New  York,  July  30,  1817.  He  Avas  the  youngest  in  a  laniily  of 
nine  children.  His  parents  were  esteemed  in  the  community  where  they 
resided,  and  were  able  by  their  industrious  habits  to  make  comfortable 
provision  for  their  children.  When  but  nine  years  of  age,  young  Freeland 
went  to  live  with  liis  brother-in-law.  Colonel  John  llillibut,  then  residing 
in  Fort  Ann,  Washington  County,  New  York.  Colonel  Hillibut  kej)t  a 
store,  and  Freeland  made  himself  generally  useful  about  it.  He  had  a 
good  home  in  the  Colonel's  family,  was  taught  the  art  of  doing  business, 
all  tiie  way  up  from  sweeping  the  store  to  buying  gooils,  received  a  fair 
common  school  education,  and,  just  before  his  majority,  set  out  to  sell 
goods  on  his  own  account  at  Patten's  Mills,  in  the  town  of  Kingsbury, 
New  York. 

Patten's  Mills  was  then  a  very  small  village,  and  in  one  respect  (»nr 
young  adventurer  wiis  very  well  suited  to  it — he  iiad  but  one  hiui(h-(il 
dollars  in  capital  and  a  few  "traps."  But  a  little  money,  backed  up  by 
a  good  name  and  Icind,  inlluential  friends,  may  be  made  to  go  a  long  way 
in  stocking  a  country  store.  The  venture  was  successful.  In  eight 
months   he  sold    out  his   entire  interest   ami   made   ei<rl»t  hundred  and 


496  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

thirty-four  dollars.  With  this  augmented  capital  he  turned  his  face  to 
the  West — visited  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  other  prominent  points.  This 
was  in  1839.  But  his  time  for  service  here  had  not  yet  come,  for,  while 
stopping  at  the  Lake  House,  he  received  a  proposition  from  an  old  mer- 
chant, Ebenezer  Broughtou,  to  return  to  Fort  Ann  and  form  a  partnership 
wath  him.  The  offer  was  tempting,  and  especially  complimentary.  It  was 
accepted.  The  kind  Colonel  was  ready  to  loan  the  needful  funds.  At  the 
expiration  of  five  years  the  copartnership  Mas  dissolved,  the  Colonel  was 
paid  up,  with  interest,  and  there  remained  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Gardner 
the  respectable  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars. 

Asain  he  set  his  face  westward,  and  this  time  resisted  all  entreaties  to 
turn  back.  He  selected  the  lumbering  business  as  his  future  field  of 
operations,  but,  while  arranging  his  plans,  some  unexpected  turn  in  money 
matters  rendered  it  difficult  for  him  to  obtain  the  additional  funds  he 
needed,  and  so  he  held  the  project  in  abeyance  for  a  time,  went  to  New 
York,  bought  a  stock  of  goods,  and  opened  a  store  in  Kenosha  (then 
Southport),  Wisconsin.  "If  money  could  not  be  borrowed,  it  could  be 
earned" — and  with  this  motto  he  filled  the  shelves  of  his  store  with  such 
goods  as  were  suited  to  the  Western  market,  and  gave  himself  closely  to 
the  yardstick  and  measure  for  two  years,  when  he  sold  out  to  good 
advantage,  and  was  readv  for  the  work  of  his  life.  This  Avas  in  1848, 
and  he  thirty-one  years  old. 

On  a  bright  autumnal  day  (November  9, 1849),  Mr.  Gardner,  with  his 
wife  and  one  child,  then  four  years  old,  set  out  from  Kenosha,  on  the 
steamboat  Lexington,  for  the  Peusaukee  River,  Wisconsin,  on  the  western 
shore  of  Green  Bay.  Three  days  of  a  somewhat  eventful  passage  brought 
them  to  their  destination.  No  hospitable  mansion  opened  its  doors  to 
receive  them.  They  had  literally  come  to  a  wilderness.  All  the  land  then 
entered  on  the  Pensaukce  river,  except  thirty-seven  acres,  Mr.  Gardner 
had  bought.  Workmen  had  been  sent  forward  with  materials  for  the 
construction  of  a  steam  saw-mill,  and  to  make  temporary  arrangements 
for  the  shelter  of  themselves  and  their  employer  and  his  family.  No 
time  was  to  be  lost ;  winter  was  very  near  at  hand.  The  first  day  after 
Mr.  Gardner's  arrival  found  the  mechanics  at  work  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  mill,  but  to  his  great  disappointment,  in  looking  about,  he  could 
find  no  lime ;  somehow  it  had  been  left  by  the  freight  vessel  at  Racine, 
and  now  it  was  too  late  to  get  back  and  have  the  lime  freighted  forward. 
Thev  knew  of  limestone  across  the  bay.     In  some  way  they  must  get  to  it. 


FREELAND   B.  GARDNER.  497 

A  siiiling  scow,  partly  completed,  was  iiuule  **  to  do,"  and  by  the  aid  of  a 
favoriug  breeze,  was  landed  near  where  they  wished  to  j^o.  in  an  old  kiln 
they  found  a  quantity  of  air-slackeil  lime,  purchased  what  they  wished  for  a 
barrel  of  Hour,  and  started  back.  Through  uiueh  tribulation,  tluy  reaehetl 
the  site  of  the  mill,  and  the  work  of  construction  went  i-aj)idly  forward. 
But  disappointments  do  not  come  singly.  Tlie  ])artic's  of  whom  the 
machinery  had  been  purchased  in  Detroit  had  omitted  a  part  of  the  order. 
That  must  be  had  at  the  earliest  possible  day;  they  couhl  not  afford  to  wait 
until  navigation  opened.  By  rail  and  steamer  the  machinery  reached 
Kenosha  quite  early  in  the  spring.  Mr.  Gardner  met  it  there  with  his 
team.  The  roads  were  bad,  and  after  getting  on  about  twenty  miles,  he 
hired  another  team  to  take  half  the  load.  That  team  went  as  far  as 
Appleton,  eighty  miles,  where  it  gave  out.  Another  was  hired,  which 
dragged  along  to  Green  Bay.  At  the  town  of  Green  liay,  Mr.  (Gardner 
was  compelled  to  load  all  the  machinery  on  his  wagon,  and  to  drag  it  over 
the  heavy  road  through  the  woods  as  far  as  the  road  extended,  lie  then 
took  the  ice,  and  by  the  aid  of  a  pilot  to  explore  for  sound  ice,  he  got  the 
load  within  three  miles  of  the  mill,  Avhere  he  had  to  stop.  The  horses 
were  literally  "used  up,"  the  only  difference  between  tiiem  being  that  one 
could  try  to  pull  and  the  other  could  not  even  make  the  effort,  ^\'ord 
was  conveyed  to  the  mill,  fresh  horses  took  the  heavy  load  and  the  weary 
animals  forward;  the  machinery  Avas  quickly  put  in  its  place,  and  on  the 
9th  day  of  May,  1850,  the  mill  was  opened — the  second  steam  saw-mill 
erected  upon  the  coast  of  Green  Bay.  We  can  easily  believe  that  May  9, 
1850,  is  a  remarkable  day  in  Mr.  Gardner's  history. 

For  a  time,  Mr.  Gardner  had  a  lumber  yard  in  Kenosha,  but  in  the 
spring  of  1852  he  removed  to  Chicago,  and  opened  a  large  lumber-yard 
here.  His  business  rapidly  increased,  up  to  1857.  On  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  Bay,  at  a  point  called  Little  Sturgeon,  he  erected  another  steam 
saw-mill,  and  built  two  fine  vessels  to  convey  the  lumber  from  the  mills 
to  the  market.  This  mill  was  burned,  at  a  loss  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars,  and  had  been  barely  rebuilt  when  the  famous  financial  crash  of 
1857  came.  Everybody  was  aj)palled.  No  money  for  a  time  e(»uld  be 
had  from  any  quarter,  and  Mr.  Gardner  was  obliged  to  susimmkI.  The  I)oli 
came  almost  Avithout  warning,  and  from  a  sunny  sky.  lie  knew  that  his 
business  was  lucrative,  that  he  had  property  enough  to  meet  all  his 
liabilities,  but  the  question  was  to  have  others  see  that  he  could  work 
himself  out  if  time  were  given  him.     That  time  was  cheerfully  granted, 


498  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

and  he  was  left  undisturbed  to  manage  his  affairs  in  his  own  way,  all 
parties  feeling  that  if  anybody  was  able  to  relieve  the  property  of 
embarrassment  Mr.  Gardner  coidd  and  would. 

The  first  year  of  struggle  passed,  that  gloomy  year  to  many  a  toiling 
merchant,  of  1857-8.  It  found  Mr.  Grardner  eighteen  thousand  dollars 
worse  off  than  when  he  began  it.  Xothiug  daunted,  he  pressed  forward, 
hoping  for  an  improved  market;  retrenching  at  every  point  where 
retrenchment  was  possible,  spending  no  money  for  any  purpose  which 
the  necessities  of  life  did  not  require.  At  length,  as  business  revived 
and  prices  advanced,  his  financial  condition  improved;  one  debt  after 
another  was  met,  until  at  last  his  obligations  Avere  all  fully  discharged, 
and  his  splendid  property  relieved  of  all  incumbrances. 

Mr.  Gardner  is  now  in  the  full  tide  of  business  prosperity.  He 
manufactured,  the  first  year,  two  million  feet  of  lumber — now,  annually, 
fifteen  million  feet.  His  mills  have  become  the  centres  of  considerable 
settlements,  and  his  stores  in  connection  with  them  command  a  large 
trade  from  persons  who  reside  along  the  coast.  He  employs,  in  all,  some 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  owns,  on  the  Pensaukee  River,  thirty 
thousand  acres  of  timber-land.  The  Pensaukee  property  is  joined  to 
Chicago  by  telegraph. 

Beside  the  three  sail  vessels  which  Mr.  Gardner  has  built  for  his  own 
accommodation,  he  has  been  largely  instrumental  in  furnishing  steam 
communication  with  the  shores  of  Green  Bay. 

Mr.  Gardner  is  a  quiet,  unobtrusive,  kindly  man.  He  is  personally 
popular,  and  is  regarded,  by  all  who  know  him,  as  the  very  soul  of 
honesty.  He  has  never  held  ofiice,  and  has  no  desire  for  any  political 
preferment,  or  distinction  in  any  such  way.  He  is  a  consistent  and  useful 
member  of  society,  and  is  interested  in  benevolent  and  Christian  work. 
Happily,  his  generosity  enlarges  with  his  increased  ability.  His  great 
anxiety,  during  his  financial  struggles,  seems  to  have  been  to  maintain  his 
reputation  for  integrity;  to  pay  all  he,  in  any  way,  owed,  rather  than  to 
save  anything  for  himself.  But  since,  in  the  order  of  Providence,  he 
was  enabled  to  do  all  that  he  wished,  and  better  than  he  expected,  he 
hopes  to  express  his  gratitude  in  substantial  deeds. 

He  was  married,  in  1841,  to  Miss  Fanny  Copeland.  One  son  and 
two  daughters  constitute  their  familv. 

Mr.  Gardner  has  recently  completed  one  of  the  most  stately  and 
attractive  private  edifices  in  Chicago.     Those  who  know  him  well,  and  are 


FREELAND    15.   GARDNER.  499 

accjuainted  with  his  family,  can  wish  lor  hint  lutthinj;  hctUT  than  that  his 
chihh-cn  may  fulfill  their  present  promise,  and  that  his  noble  wife  mav 
long  be  spared  to  share  the  prosperity  which  siie  has  done  her  part  to 
secure. 


DATUS  C.  BROOKS. 


Professor  Datus  C.  Brooks,  erlitor  of  the  "Chicago  Evening  Post," 
was  born  July  15,  1830,  at  Geneva,  New  York.  He  is  descended  from 
New  England  stock,  his  parents  having  previously  lived  in  Connecticut. 

In  1833,  his  family  removed  to  Sturges,  St.  Joseph  County,  Michigan, 
at  which  place  Mr.  Brooks  lived  until  nineteen  years  of  age.  During 
this  time,  he  attended  district  and  village  schools,  and  soon  distanced  all 
his  competitors  in  the  pursuit  of  ordinary  branches.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen,  he  commenced  the  study  of  Latin,  and  became  a  proficient  in 
the  higher  English  branches,  exciting  no  small  attention  as  an  elocutionist 
and  a  ready  debater. 

AVhcn  oighteou  years  of  age,  he  read  medicine  for  a  year,  and  then 
removed  to  .Vnn  Arbor,  the  seat  of  the  JNIichigan  University,  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  the  medical  department.  For  two  years  he  obtained 
the  means  to  support  himself  at  the  college  by  teaching  and  manual 
labor,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  concluded  to  enter  the  AVesleyan 
Seminary  at  Albion,  then  under  charge  of  that  excellent  edueator, 
Dr.  C.  T.  Ilinman.  He  spent  the  first  year  of  his  regular  collegiate 
course  at  this  institution,  during  which  time  he  distinguished  himself  for 
his  proficiency  as  a  linguist  and  as  a  writer  and  sj)eaker.  He  entered  his 
sophomore  year  at  Michigan  T^nivcrsity,  soon  after  it  was  placed  uuder 
charge  of  President  Heniv  I'.  'r:i]ipan.  Though  without  means,  he 
forced  his  way  by  hard  labor  and  severe  self-denial.  In  the  departments 
of  language,  literature  ;uid  ])hilosophy,  he  gained  especial  distinction; 
he  read  everything,  and  wrote  incessantly  for  ncwspapci"s  aiul  other 
periodicals.  ]Ie  graduated  in  185G,  and  there  being  then  a  vacancy  in 
the  Department  of  Rhetorie  ;ind   English  Literature,  occasioned  by  tht* 


502  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

retirement  of  Dr.  Haven,  now  President  of  the  University,  Mr.  Brooks 
was  placed  in  charge  of  that  responsible  professorship.  In  addition  to 
his  duties  in  this  department,  was  that  of  giving  instruction  in  elementary 
Greek. 

The  organization  of  a  scientific  course  of  four  years,  in  which  modern 
languages  and  English  studies  filled  the  principal  part,  rendered  it 
necessary  for  the  new  Professor  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the 
English  department;  and  it  is  Avell  understood  that  in  no  other  college 
in  the  country  did  these  indispensable,  but  usually  neglected  branches 
receive  so  great  and  thorough  attention  as  those  under  charge  of  Professor 
Brooks.  He  early  formed  the  opinion  that  the  modern  languages,  and 
especially  the  English  language  and  literature,  are  entirely  competent  to 
take  the  place  of  ancient  studies,  both  as  a  means  of  graceful  culture 
and  as  an  adequate  mental  discipline — an  opinion  to  which  he  shaped 
his  course,  and  Avhose  truth  he  amply  demonstrated. 

During  his  engagement  at  the  University,  he  responded  to  frequent 
calls  to  address  the  public,  both  from  the  ])ulpit  and  platform;  and  like- 
wise was  an  occasional  contributor  to  the  "Xortli  American  Review"  and 
other  periodicals.  During  the  last  year  of  his  stay  in  the  University,  he 
took  charge  of  the  lil)rary,  with  a  view  to  its  enlargement  and  better 
organization. 

In  1864,  he  closed  his  career  at  the  University,  and  accepted  the 
responsible  position  of  literary  editor,  and  art,  dramatic  and  musical 
critic  of  the  "Chicago  Times" — positions  for  which  he  was  admirably 
fitted  by  his  extensive  and  thorough  culture  and  his  versatility  as  a 
writer.  He  at  once  gave  the  departments  controlled  by  him  a  vigor,  a 
dignity,  a  scholarly  and  ajipreciative  tone,  that  raised  them  to  the  front 
rank  in  the  journalism  of  the  United  States. 

In  1866,  he  took  the  position  of  associate  editor  of  the  "Evening 
Post,"  which  position  he  at  present  occupies.  His  main  duties  are 
confined  to  political  writing;  but  he  occasionally  varies  the  discussion  of 
the  issues  of  the  day  by  critiques  upon  art,  music  and  ancient  literature. 

Professor  Brooks  promises  to  succeed  as  well  in  the  difficult  duties 
ol  journalism  as  he  did  as  an  educat(jr.  In  the  character  of  the  latter 
he  was  bold  and  original  in  his  designs.  He  struck  out  from  the  old, 
beaten  paths,  and  conducted  his  followers  by  shorter,  better,  and  more 
invigorating  routes.  The  independence  which  he  developed  at  the 
University  he    carries    with    him    into  journalism.      He  writes   clearly, 


DATUS   C.    BROOKS.  503 

elegantly,  and  "witli  an  camestness  that  pervades  his  arguments,  and  adds 
vastly  to  their  strength.  He  has  already  attained  a  position  second  to 
few,  if  any,  in  the  Northwest;  that  he  will  achieve  higher  distinction 
is  guaranteed  by  his  untiring  industry,  his  scholarly  attainments,  his 
superiority  as  a  journalist,  and  his  pervading  ambition  to  attain  the  head 
of  his  profession. 


DAVID  SIIEPPARD  8311X11. 


To  Hahnemann  belongs  the  proud  distinction  of  having  created  a  new 
world  of  knowledge  out  of  the  crude  facts,  inconsistent  observations  and 
contradictory  experiences  of  the  past.  His  was  the  mentality  which 
threw  light  on  the  unmeasured  depths  of  ignorance  existing  on  human 
physiopathic  affinities  with  tlic  Materia  Medica.  But  to  others  belongs 
the  honor  of  having  set  in  motion  the  mighty  enginery  which  has  since 
evolved  the  perfect  system  and  clothed  it  with  practical  beauty  and  living 
efficiency.  The  effulgent  beams  originated  by  Hahnemann  became  vital- 
izing activities  only  as  they  operated  by  gradual  assimilation  with  the 
popular  mind.  To  turn  the  world  round  to  meet  and  receive  those  rays 
was  a  subsequent  work — a  greater  labor.  One  of  the  most  fruitful 
sections  of  the  earth's  surface  which  have  been  thus  successively  brought 
under  these  influences,  is  the  broad  and  fertile  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  enlightenment  of  that  vast  section  is  largely  asorihable  to  the  eiforts 
of  one  man — one  of  Chicago's  oldest  citizens — David  Sheppard  Smith, 
M.  D.  What  Hahnemann  was  to  the  world  at  largi-,  that,  in  some 
degree,  Dr.  Smith  has  been  to  the  West.  As  the  first  to  introduce  the 
practice  and  expound  the  theory  of  the  similies  west  of  the  Lakes,  and 
the  man  to  whose  efforts  the  establishment  of  tiie  Hahnemann  ^ledical 
College  was  most  largely  due,  he  is  justly  entitled  to  the  ajipellation  of 
"Father  of  Western  Homoeopathy."  As  such,  he  is  tiic  subject  of  the 
highest  and  most  appreciative  esteem  by  the  tens  of  thousands  among  us 
wlio  regard  his  chosen  sphere  of  labor  as  a  world  of  itself,  and  scarcely 
less  so  by  that  still  more  numerous  class  who  look  on  it  simply  as  a  note- 
worthy reform — excellent  jjer  sc,  but  more  valuable  as  the  M'cdge  which 
has  riven  asunder  the  block  of  dogmatizing  intolerance  on  which  so  many 


506  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

medical  reformers  had  previously  been  sacrificed.  Dr.  Smith  is  entitled 
to  still  further  respect  as  the  ranking  pliysician  of  Chicago,  being  the 
longest  on  duty  of  any  now  practicing  in  tlie  city.  He  came  here  in 
1836,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  attained  liis  majority  within  a  few  days 
of  the  time  Avhen,  by  act  of  incorporation,  the  city  of  Chicago  sprung 
into  existence,  like  a  buttertly,  emerging  from  the  chrysalis-like  state  of 
village  life.  Thirty  years  have  ekipsed  since  then,  and  the  adult  life 
of  the  municipality  has  been  actualized.  Of  those  who  came  here  before 
that  date,  and  have  been  since  that  continuously  identified  with  the  site, 
very  few  remain ;  among  the  physicians  still  fewer,  Avhile  the  liaudful  of 
survivors  have,  with  the  one  exception,  retired  from  j^ractice,  leaving 
Dr.  D.  S.  Smith  as  the  sole  connecting  link  between  the  village  of  then, 
and  the  city  of  now. 

David  Sheppard  Smith  was  born  in  Camden,  New  Jersey,  on  the  28th 
of  Ajjril,  1816.  His  father,  Isaac,  Mas  born  in  Salem  County,  Xew 
Jersey,  being  one  of  its  earliest  settlers.  The  maternal  name  was  Wheaton, 
and  traceable  to  Wales  through  but  two  generations.  The  parents  of  the 
youth  were  noted  as  possessed  of  great  force  of  character,  and  their  influ- 
ence for  good  was  powerful  in  forming  his  young  mind.  The  son  enjoyed 
the  ordinary  school  advantages  of  the  town  in  his  boyhood,  but  he  often 
refers  to  the  instruction  of  his  mother  as  of  much  the  greatest  value.  Her 
teachings  led  him  to  aspire  to  moral  worth  and  strive  for  a  high  order  of 
mental  culture.  His  ambition  at  an  early  age  was  to  associate  with  those 
who  knew  more  than  himself.  He  early  discovered  a  decided  leaning  to 
the  study  of  the  healing  art,  and  at  the  proper  age  was  sent  to  study 
medicine  Mith  Dr.  Isaac  S.  Mulford.  He  attended  three  full  courses  of 
lectures  at  the  Jefierson  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia,  and  graduated 
with  honor  in  1836.  That  institution  was  then,  as  now,  foremost  among 
the  medical  schools  of  the  continent,  and  its  diploma,  which  he  still 
retains,  is  an  evidence  of  high  attainment  on  the  j^art  of  its  possessor, 
without  which  it  would  not  have  been  granted  him.  He  has  been  the 
recipient  of  many  honors  since  then,  but  of  none  that  he  prizes  more 
highly  than  that,  the  first  fruits  of  his  studious  toil. 

Armed  Mith  his  diploma,  the  young  physician  cast  about  for  a  field  in 
which  to  practice.  He  had  heard  glowing  accounts  of  the  AVest,  and  soon 
his  determination  was  formed  to  come  to  Chicago.  He  came  out,  and  was 
so  well  pleased  with  the  prospect,  that  he  decided  to  settle  here,  and  in  a 
few  months  consummated  the  act  bv  marrvino;  and  makino-  a  home.    In 


DAVID  SHEPPARD  SMITH.  507 

the  autumn  of  1837,  he  returned  East  to  six-nd  the  winter  with  his  parents 
at  Camden,  and  dnrinjr  the  visit  his  att<'ntiun  was  taUeil  t<>  tlie  then  novel 
doctrines  of  honuoopathy.  He  read  a  littk',  and  w;i.s  interested  s<>  deeply 
that  he  determined  to  give  the  subject  a  thorough  investigation,  and  to 
that  end  bought  all  the  books  he  could  find  in  the  English  language 
cxpoundinii"  the  principles  and  practiee  of  the  Hahnemann  theory.  He 
brought  them  back  with  him  to  the  West,  moving  then  to  Joliet,  and  in 
his  leisure  hours  made  them  the  subjects  of  exhaustive  stndy,  though 
continuing  to  practice  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  j)rlnciples  of  the 
allopathic  school.  Soon  after  this,  however,  his  first-born  child  was  taken 
sick,  and,  the  case  not  responding  to  allopathic  treatment,  this  led  to  a 
successful  resort  to  homoeopathic  prescriptions,  from  which  dates  Dr. 
Smith's  growing  confidence  in  the  new  practice.  In  1842,  he  returned  to 
Chic.ago,  and  here  coutinued  the  old  school  practice  for  some  months 
longer,  becoming  more  and  more  dissatisfied  with  it,  though  meeting  with 
an  average  success  in  his  treatment.  In  the  spring  of  1843,  he  went  East 
on  business,  and  while  there,  procured  more  ^vorks  on  homcEopathy.  On 
his  return  to  Chicago,  he  fully  adopted  the  system  in  his  practice,  bc.'ing 
the  first  to  introduce  it  west  of  the  Lakes;  it  rapidly  grew  in  the  public 
lavor,  and  soon  Dr.  Smith  had  more  calls  for  his  services  than  he  cnld 
attend  to.  Then  other  honujeopathic  practitioners  came,  and,  ere  long,  the 
new  school  advocates  in  Chicago,  though  in  the  minority,  were  sufficiently 
numerous  to  command  attention  to,  and  respect  for,  its  system  of  treatment. 
Dr.  Smith  continued  in  active  practice  till  1856,  passing  through  the 
cholera  seasons  wdth  marked  success.  During  the  visitation  in  1849,  he 
was  kept  so  busy,  that  he  frequently  prescribed  without  taking  the  names 
of  patients.  In  1852,  he  was  on  a  trip  East  when  he  heard  that  the 
cholera  had  again  broken  out  in  Chicago;  he  hurried  back,  and  worked  at 
his  post  night  and  day,  till  he  fell  sick  with  it  himself.  He  recovered  and 
again  went  to  work.  During  all  these  periods,  he  never  turned  away  a 
case  on  account  of  poverty,  or  no  pay.  He  cheerfully  gave  his  services 
wherever  required.  As  an  instance  of  how  his  heart  was  in  his  work,  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  once  he  was  called  upon  at  the  same  time  by  two 
parties  to  make  a  visit,  both  eases  being  urgent.  Seeing  him  hesitate,  one 
said,  "my  representative  is  worth  half  a  million,  an.l  will  pay  yon  any- 
thing vou  charge  if  you  will  only  come  now."  At  this  the  other  fell  back 
with  the  remark :  "  Then  I  may  as  well  go,  for  I  am  not  worth  a  dollar." 
The  doctor  replied:     "Then  I  go  with  yon,"  and  made  the  vi^it  to  the 


508  BIOGRAPHICAI.   SKETCHES. 

hovel  in  preference  to  that  demanded  by  the  semi-millionaire.  Thus  he 
worked,  and  was  rewarded,  if  not  always  ^^•ith  money,  at  least  with  the 
approving  reflection  that  what  was  done  Avas  Avell  done. 

In  the  winter  of  1854-5,  Dr.  Smith  attended  the  Illinois  Legislative 
session  in  Springfield,  and  a  charter  was  procured  incorporating  the  Hahne- 
mann Medical  College  of  Chicago,  since  located  on  South  State  street. 
There  was  not  a  vast  amount  of  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  bill,  as 
the  opinion  was  freely  expressed  that  the  Institution  would  never  amount 
to  anything.  How  largely  that  prediction  has  been  falsified,  we  need 
not  say.  Dr.  Smith  was  elected  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  from 
the  commencement,  and  his  best  energies  have  ever  since  then  been  given 
to  helping  forward  the  cause  he  loved  so  well.  In  recognition  of  his 
eminent  services  and  acquirements,  an  honorary  degree  was  conferred 
on  him,  February  23,  1856,  by  the  Homoeopathic  jNIedical  College  of 
Cleveland.  In  1857,  he  was  elected  General  Secretary  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  an  association  national  in  its  membership, 
character  and  influence.  In  June,  1858,  he  was  chosen  President,  and 
in  1865,  Treasurer  of  the  same  institution. 

In  1856,  Dr.  Smith's  health  began  to  fiiil,  under  the  arduous  pressure 
of  his  duties,  and  he  removed  to  Waukegan,  where  he  remained  three 
vears,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  being  chosen,  while  there.  President 
of  the  Bank  of  Northern  Illinois.  He  then  returned  to  Chicago  and 
resumed  practice,  enjoying  a  large  patronage,  and  attending  to  his  duties 
Avithout  intermission  until  the  spring  of  1866,  Avhen  his  health  again 
failed,  and  he  decided  to  visit  Europe,  as  a  relaxation  and  for  change  of 
scene.  While  there  he  visited  many  points  of  interest,  going  through  the 
hospitals  and  colleges,  and  enjoying  the  acquaintance  of  the  learned  men 
there.  He  returned  with  his  health  very  much  improved,  and  was 
received,  on  his  arrival  in  May,  1867,  with  a  heartiness  of  welcome  that 
showed  how  extensive  and  deep-felt  was  the  respect  entertained  for  him 
by  his  former  friends. 

Dr.  Smith  was  married  in  January,  1837,  a  few  mouths  after  his  first 
arrival  in  Chicago,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Ann  Dennis,  daughter  of  Jose])h  and 
Mary  J.  Dennis,  of  Salem,  New  Jersey.  He  met  her  first  at  the  residence 
of  her  uncle.  Major  E.  H.  Mulford,  now  of  Oakland,  Cook  County.  The 
marriasre  has  been  blessed  with  four  children.  Of  these,  one  daughter 
married  Dr.  Slocum,  and  subsequently  died  in  Southwestern  Texas,  and  a 
son  died  at  Fort  Earned.     The  other  two,  daughters,  are  still  living,  one 


DAVID   SHEPPARD   SMITH.  509 

of  wliom  became  the  wife  of  Majm-  .lohii  Christopher,  United  States 
Army,  well  known  in  this  city  (Inriu!;-  tht'  early  part  of  the  rebellion  iis 
mustering-in  otlicer,  and  afterwards  chosen  nn:uiimously  as  Colonel  of  the 
Railroad  (Eighty-ninth)  Regiment — a  high  compliment,  seeing  that  it 
was  entirely  uiisoughi  for,  and  ((jualcd  only  by  a  similar  compliment 
from  tiic  Government,  which  refnseil  to  permit  the  transi'er,  as  his  services 
were  too  valuable  in  that  de])artment  to  be  dispensed  with. 

Dr.  Smith  occupies  a  residence.  No.  341  ^^'abash  avenue,  standing  on 
a  lot  which  lie  remembers  once  to  ha\-e  ,-eeii  .-iicli  an  impracticable  slough, 
in  the  early  history  of  Chicago,  that  a  livery-man  cautioned  liim  not 
to  attempt  to  cross  it,  as  the  horse  would  ''get  stuck.''  The  lot  has  since 
become  a  most  desirable  piece  of  j)roperty,  and  the  bulk  of  the  population 
of  South  Chicago  live  even  south  of  this. 

Tlie  Doctor  is  a  regular  attendant  on  the  E])iseopal  service,  in  Grace 
Church — llev.  Clinton  Locke,  D.  D.,  Hector — but  is  not  a  member  of  the 
society.  He  is  a  man  of  strong  religious  convictions,  decided  in  his  views, 
iuflexiblc  in  determination,  of  uudeviating  integrity,  and  is  generous  to  a 
fault. 


WILLIAM  A.   GILES. 


It  is  a  fact,  which  the  personal  histories  of  our  most  successful  and 
eminent  men  in  all  departments  of  life  will  amply  show,  that  those  who 
start  out  in  life  under  adverse  circustances,  but  possessed  of  honor,  virtue, 
and  energy  of  character,  are  the  men  who  generally  distinguish 
themselves  in  their  respective  spheres  of  labor  and  usefulness.  In  no  com- 
munity is  this  fact  more  strikingly  illustrated  than  in  Chicago,  where  the 
majority  of  those  who  are  now  leading  men  in  business  and  public  life 
commenced  the  struggle  for  wealth  and  position,  poor  in  worldly 
possessions,  but  rich  in  the  endowments  of  a  manly  courage,  honorable 
principles,  and  a  worthy  ambition. 

Those  who  have  a  mere  business  acquaintance  with  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  William  A.  Giles,  the  senior  member  of  the  well  known  Lake 
street  jewelry  firm  of  Giles  Brothers  &  Co.,  would  little  suspect  that  he 
started  out  in  life  a  penniless  orphan  boy,  or  that  he  spent  the  yeare  of 
his  boyhood  on  a  farm.     But  such  is  the  fact. 

Mr.  Giles  Avas  born  in  New  Salem,  Massachusetts,  October  6,  1836. 
He  was  the  third  of  a  family  of  seven  children.  His  father  was  in  com- 
fortable circumstances  until  1837,  the  year  of  the  memorable  financial 
crisis,  at  which  time  his  property  Avas  all  wrested  fn»m  him,  leaving  the 
family  impoverished.  In  1844,  when  William  was  but  eight  years  of 
age,  the  children — five  sons  and  two  daughters — were  left  almost 
penniless,  and  nearly  friendless.  The  elder  brother,  Frederick,  was 
apprenticed  to  a  trade;  William  was  taken  to  the  home  of  his  aged 
grandfather,  who  occupied  a  large,  rocky,  wood-covered  and  unproductive 
farm,  for  which  he  was  heavily  in  debt,  and  from  which  he  producc<l 
barelv  enough  for  a  "livinnr;"  and  the  rest  of  the  children  were  kept 


512  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

together  and  supported  by  the  heroic  efforts  of  an  older  sister,  who,  at  that 
time,  was  but  thirteen  years  of  age.  When  William  was  eleven  years  of 
age  his  grandfather  died,  and,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  he  managed 
the  great,  incumbered  farm  until  he  reached  his  fourteenth  year — plowing 
the  land,  gathering  the  harvests,  and  performing  all  tlie  usual  farm 
drudgery.  During  the  summer  season  he  labored  from  fourteen  to  fifteen 
hours  a  day,  but  employed  the  long  evenings  of  autumn  and  winter  in 
reading  and  study.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  the  farm  passed  into  other 
hands,  and  he  hired  out,  as  a  farm  laborer,  to  a  heartless  hypocrite  named 
Frost,  who  required  the  services  of  a  man,  but  paid  only  one-fifth  of  a 
man's  Avages.  Being  at  this  period  of  life  ambitious  for  an  education, 
he  devoted  the  autumn,  winter,  *and  early  spring  months  to  study,  and 
attending  a  high  school,  where  he  made  rapid  progress,  especially  in  the 
mathematical  and  historical  departments.  To  meet  his  expenses  for 
tuition  and  board  he  worked  mornings  and  evenings  on  the  farm. 
When  fifteen  years  of  age,  his  elder  brother  obtained  for  him  a  situation 
in  the  jewelry  store  of  Mr.  Cook,  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  in  which  he 
was  to  serve  as  apprentice  and  clerk  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  He  tried  it  for  several  months,  when,  becoming  impressed  that 
such  a  long  service,  without  much  remuneration,  and  without  any 
opportunity  for  mental  culture,  would  be  a  needless  waste  of  time,  he 
became  seriously  discontented.  His  employer,  being  apprised  of  the  young 
man's  feelings,  kindly  consented  to  release  him  from  his  apprenticeship, 
upon  which  he  entered  the  high  school  at  Athol,  INIass.,  as  a  student. 
He  earned  money  enough,  mornings  and  evenings,  to  pay  his  board,  and 
worked  on  a  farm  during  the  haying  season,  for  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  day.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  New  Salem  Academy, 
completed  his  study  of  the  common  branches,  and  commenced  the  study 
of  the  languages  and  the  higher  departments  of  mathematics,  and  in  the 
winter  of  that  year  he  accepted  the  position  of  teacher  in  a  common  school, 
resuming  his  studies  at  the  Academy  in  the  ensuing  spring.  In  1854, 
though  still  a  boy,  he  took  the  initiatory  steps  to  establish  a  high  school 
at  South  Royalton,  Mass.,  of  which  he  was  the  first  Princij)al.  This  was 
his  first  success  in  life.  By  considerable  tact  and  perseverance  he  organ- 
ized a  first-class  school — one  of  the  most  popular  and  successful  in  that 
region — bringing  together  a  congregation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
students,  whom,  with  the  aid  of  two  assistants,  he  taught  successfully. 
Subsequently,  he  entered  Thetford  Academy,  to  complete  his  course  of 


WILLIAM    A.  GILES.  513 

studies,  paying  his  tuition  and  board  by  taking  charge  of  the  chiss  in 

geology.     His  desire  was  to  enter  college,  but  his  pecuniary  means  not 

warranting  it,  he  relinquislu'd  his  purpose,  and  deterininetl  t«j  devote  a 

year  or  two  to  teaching,  and  then  embark   in  some  commercial  pursuit. 

Accordingly,  he  took  charge  of  the  Blackwood  Academy,  near  I'liiladel- 

phia,  Pa.     His  health  failing,  he  resigned   l\\\>  charge,  and  abandoned 

teaching. 

Having    accumulated    a    few    iinndrcd    dollars,   and    obtaining   some 

credit,  Mr.  Giles  came  ^yest  in  1857,  and  spent  a  liw  nu)nths  pros- 
pecting, and  visiting  friends  in  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin.  lie  finally 
located  in  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis.,  and  opened  a  jewelry  stcjri-.  Being 
convinced  that  it  would  be  a  paying  i^ivestraent,  he  established  a  branch 
store  in  McGregor,  Iowa,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Mississippi  Kiver, 
and  took  his  younger  brother,  Charles,  into  partnership.  Tiieir  success 
far  surpassed  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  Tiic  business  proving  renm- 
nerative,  he  soon  became  desirous  of  extending  his  sphere  of  operations. 
To  effect  this,  in  1862,  he  removed  to  Chicago,  and,  in  partnership  ^\ilh  his 
brother  Charles  and  a  silent  partner,  stocked  and  opened  the  store  tliey 
still  occupy,  at  142  Lake  street.  Messrs.  Giles  Brothers  &  Co.  acted  upon 
the  belief  that,  with  suitable  Eastern  connections  and  a  liberal  treatment 
of  the  trade,  Cliicago  could  just  as  well  supply  all  the  Northwestern 
demand  in  this  department  of  mercantile  commerce  as  New  York  or  any 
other  Eastern  city.  They  sold  goods  for  what  they  were,  and  consequently 
soon  secured  the  patronage  of  merchants  and  othei-s  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  trading  at  the  East.  Thus  was  inaugurated  a  first-class  trade  for 
Chicago  in  that  department — a  trade  which  now  amounts  to  millions  of 
dollars  yearly,  and  in  the  rajiid  progress  of  which  they  have  ever  been  the 
leaders.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  they  have  been  well  rewarded  for  their 
enterprise,  and  are  now  among  our  most  successful  young  merchants, 
counting  their  friends  in  almost  every  town,  village  and  city  in  the 
Northwest. 

AVithin  a  few  years  post,  a  private  art  gallery  has  been  establishid  in 
connection  with  their  elegant  store,  which  has  proved  to  be  a  pojinlar 
resort  of  art-lovers.  Some  of  the  most  valuable  gems  from  tlu-  easi-ls  of 
native  and  foreign  artists  are  there  displayed.  These  jiaintings  wi-re 
selected  by  Mr.  Giles,  and  exhibit  his  taste  in  matters  aesthetic  an«l 
exquisite. 

Some  months  ago,  Mr.  Giles,  with  a  vitw  of  concentrating  in  Cliicago 


514  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

a  business  that  was  monopolized  in  the  East,  conceived  the  idea  of  organ- 
izing a  Western  manufactory.  After  an  examination  of  facts  and  figures, 
he  fully  satisfied  himself  that  good  clocks,  which  are  articles  that  enter 
largely  into  the  trade  of  Western  jewelers,  could  be  made  at  Chicago  as 
well  as  in  New  England.  He  presented  the  facts  to  several  friends,  and 
it  was  finally  determined  to  form  a  joint-stock  company,  under  the  name 
and  title  of  "  The  United  States  Clock  and  Brass  Company,"  with  a  capital 
of  $200,000,  and  erect  works  for  the  same.  The  capital  stock  was  readily 
subscribed  by  citizens,  and  preparations  were  made  for  the  erection  of  the 
manufactory.  H.  W.  Austin,  Esq.,  a  public  spirited  merchant,  donated 
to  the  comi^any  forty  acres  of  land,  four  miles  west  of  the  city,  on  the 
line  of  the  Galena  Division  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad, 
on  condition  that  they  would  locate  their  works  at  that  point.  The 
proposition  was  accepted,  and  energetic  measures  Avere  at  once  taken,  under 
the  active  management  and  direction  of  Mr.  Giles,  to  proceed  with  the 
enterprise.  In  four  montlis,  three  large  buildings  for  the  use  of  the  com- 
jjany  were  completed,  as  well  as  a  village  of  tenement  houses  for  the 
employes.  In  the  autumn  of  1866,  the  first  brass  was  rolled,  and  the 
first  clocks  turned  out.  About  two  hundred  persons  are  now  employed 
in  the  manufactory,  of  which  Mr.  Giles  still  remains  the  chief  practical 
manager,  and  C.  N.  Holden,  Esq.,  President  of  the  company.  This 
is,  in  fact,  the  first  extensive  and  exclusively  Western  manufacturing 
enterprise  that  has  been  undertaken  on  so  grand  a  scale,  and  its  success 
has  demonstrated  conclusively  that  Chicago  can  be  made  a  manu- 
facturing city.  Stimulated  by  this  flattering  example,  others  are 
already  moving  for  the  establishment  here  of  extensive  manufacturing 
enterprises. 

A  more  striking  instance  of  the  practical  value  of  one  judiciously 
energetic  and  intelligently  progressive  man  in  a  community  has  rarely 
been  given  than  is  that  of  Mr.  Giles,  as  the  j)ioneer  in  the  jewelry  and 
silver  trade  and  manufacturing  enterprise  of  Chicago  and  New  York. 

In  this  connection,  it  will  be  proper  to  add  that  the  oldest  brother  of 
Mr.  Giles,  Frederick,  (of  the  firm  of  Giles,  Wales  &  Co.,  New  York,)  is 
President  of  the  largest  watch  manufacturing  company  in  this  country, 
known  as  "The  United  States  Watch  Company,"  of  Marion,  New  Jersey, 
and  a  younger  brother  superintends  the  manufacture  of  goods  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  for  their  trade  in  America.  The  five  brothers,  with  their 
business  connections  in  Europe,  at  the  East,  and  in  the  West,  probably 


W  11,1.1AM    A.   GILE".  515 

exert  as  groat  an   inHnciice  in  their  line  of  trade  as  any  otljer  house  in 
this  country. 

Mr.  Giles,  in  1858,  married  Miss  E.  Harper,  daup;ht<r  of  James  G. 
Harper,  of  Enfield,  CVmn.  His  family  consists  of  himself,  \vife  and 
three  children.  He  is  of  a  nervous-sanguine  temperament;  genial  in  his 
disposition;  of  medium  stature,  and  slim  i'rame;  active  in  his  movements; 
always  busv,  and  is,  in  short,  a  worthy  specimen  of  Chicago's  shrewd 
and  progressive  business  men — a  man  of  excellent  good  sense,  good  heart, 
and  possessed  of  a  nie(»  sense  of  honor. 


> 


JOHN   UANDOLril  HIBBAUD. 


John  Randolph  Hibbard,  the  present  pastor  of  tlie  Chicago  Society 
of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  Superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Association  of 
the  New  Church,  is  the  most  prominent  and  efficient  Swedenborgian  or 
New  Church  minister  in  the  "West.  A  preacher  by  hereditary  descent  (his 
father  and  grandfather,  besides  two  paternal  and  one  maternal  uncles 
having  been  clergymen),  of  strong  convictions,  full  of  hope  and  zeal,  he 
is  a  model  of  a  New  Church  missionary.  No  man  in  the  church  in  this 
country  has  performed  more  missionary  labor,  or  produced  greater  perma- 
nent results  than  he. 

Born  and  educated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  while  yet  a  minor  he 
became  a  minister  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  and  traveled  their 
circuits,  preaching  often  from  twenty  to  thirty  sermons  in  a  month.  It 
was  while  traveling  as  a  minister  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  that  he 
fii-st  met  with  the  writings  of  the  New  Church,  and  having  received  the 
doctrines  taught  therein,  in  1839,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  he 
became  a  nK'nil)er  of  the  New  Church,  and,  in  "June  of  that  year,  was 
ordained  a  minister,  at  the  Western  Convention  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Since  then  his  whole  life  has  been  devoted  to  teaching.  At  first,  he 
taught  a  schodl  in  Rutland,  Meigs  County,  Ohio,  preaching,  in  the  mean- 
time, as  o|)portUMity  presented. 

In  1841,  he  removed  to  Northern  Ohio,  and  tlie  next  year,  on  the  30th 
of  May,  was  ordained  as  a  pastor  and  missionary,  at  the  Western 
Convention  in  Cincinnati. 

Attracted  by  one  of  liis  sermons,  published  in  the  "Precursor,"  a  New 
Church  periodieal  then  published  at  Cincinnati,  the  members  of  the  New 
Church  in  Illinois,  who,  though  but  a  handful  in  numbei*s,  had  formed 


518  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

an  association,  invited  him  to  visit  this  State,  with  a  view  of  remaining 
permanently  with  them  as  their  minister,  if,  upon  acqnaintance,  it  should 
seem  agreeable  to  both  parties,  and  likely  to  be  useful  to  the  church.  He 
accepted  the  invitation,  made  a  missionary  visit  in  1843,  and  tlie  next 
year  came  to  Illinois  to  reside,  making  his  home  principally  in  Canton 
and  Peoria,  but  preaching  in  various  other  places  in  the  State.  The 
results  of  his  labor  soon  manifested  themselves  in  the  formation  of  the 
Peoria  society,  and  a  more  general  reception  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
church  where  he  preached. 

In  June,  1847,  at  the  General  Convention  in  New  York,  he  was,  at 
the  request  of  the  Illinois  Association,  made  an  ordaining  minister. 

In  1849,  he  came  to  Chicago  to  reside  permanently,  and  became  the 
pastor  of  that  society  which,  under  his  ministry,  has  become  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  societies  of  the  New  Church  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Hibbard  came  to  Illinois  as  the  minister  for  the  whole  New 
Church  in  this  State,  and  has  always  been  recognized  as  the  general  or 
superintending  minister  of  the  New  Church  within  the  Illinois  Association. 
His  superintending  duties  have,  on  invitation,  been  extended,  more  or 
less,  to  INIissouri,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  iNIinnesota,  Michigan  and  Indiana; 
for,  though  he  claims  no  authoritv  bcvond  tlic  bounds  of  the  Illinois 
Association,  he  has  deemed  it  his  duty  to  help  the  brethren  in  neighboring 
States,  when  invited,  as  far  as  they  desired  and  his  ability  would  permit. 
There  are  now  active  societies  of  the  New  Church  in  Canton,  Peoria, 
Cliicago  and  Henry,  and  smaller  ones  in  several  other  places,  which  are 
greatly  indebted  to  the  services  rendered  by  this  efficient  worker  in  the 
New  Jerusalem  field. 

]Mr.  Hibbard  has  been  Vice-President  of  the  General  Convention,  and 
lias  always  taken  an  active  and  efficient  part  in  its  proceedings.  The 
liturgy  has  been  much  improved  through  his  effi)rts,  and  to  the  exertions 
of  no  one  is  the  establishment  of  the  New  Church  newspaper,  the  "New 
Jerusalem  ]Messenger,"  and  the  New  Church  })ublishing  house,  in  New 
York,  more  indebted  than  to  him.  He  is  now  in  his  fifty-second  year. 
He  has  dark  hair  and  eyes,  is  of  medium  size,  and  of  nervous-bilious- 
sanguineous  temperament.  He  enters  with  all  his  heart  into  the 
performance  of  his  duties,  is  faithful  and  painstaking  as  a  pastor,  and,  as 
a  missionary,  he  seems  to  continually  hear  the  command,  "Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel."  The  Gospel,  to  him,  is  found  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  New   Church.      Thev  come  down  into  his  mind  as  a 


JOHN   RANDOLPH    HIBBARD.  519 

revelation  from  Heaven,  explained  tluoui;ii  the  rational  mind  of  Emanuel 
S-xvodenborg.  He  regards  Swedenhorg  as  authority,  and  has  no  patience 
witii  tiiose  who  would  amend  tlu-  hitter's  writings.  Wiiile  teaehiny:  that 
nothing  can  do  a  man  any  good  except  what  he  receives  freely  and 
understands  rationally,  yet  he  insists,  at  all  times,  that  the  Word  of  Ciod 
and  the  writings  of  Swedenhorg,  are  the  only  sources  of  authority  in 
religion,  in  the  New  Church. 

Over  the  portals  of  his  spiritual  door  are  engraved  the  words: 
"Behold,  I  make  all  things  new,"  and  he  seems  to  find  in  the  inscription 
on  the  cross:  "Jesus,  King  of  the  Jews,"  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin, 
an  intimation  that  the  trutlis  revealeil  for  the  New  C'hureli  ari'  crystalized 
in  these  dead  languages,  which  are  matle  alive  by  the  revelation  of  the 
spiritual  sense  of  the  ^Vord,  tiirough  the  doctrine  of  correspondences 
contained  in  Swedenborg's  writings. 

The  Old  Testament,  as  is  known,  was  written  in  Hebrew,  the  New 
Testament  in  Greek,  and  Swedenborg's  Morks  in  Latin. 

The  Chicago  Society  of  the  New  Jerusalem  has  a  beautiful,  though 
not  large,  stone  temple.  On  the  facade,  near  the  main  entrance,  is  an 
inscription  in  these  tiiree  languages.  Above  the  representation  of  the 
open  and  illuminated  Word,  are  the  words:  ^' Verbuiii  Domini  riianet  in 
aiernum" — '*  The  Word  of  tlie  Lord  abides  forever."  There  are  two  other 
places  of  New  Church  worship  in  Chicago — a  small  German  Church  in 
the  northwest  part  of  the  city,  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Ragatz, 
and  a  free,  or  missionary.  Church  in  the  south  part  of  the  city,  near  the 
University  of  Chicago,  where  services  are  held  Sunday  forenoons  in 
German,  and  in  the  afternoon  in  the  English  language.  During  the 
winter,  or  the  lecturing  season,  Mr.  Hibbard  preaches  twice  a  day, 
morning  and  evening,  when  at  home,  in  the  Temple,  and  in  the  afternoon 
at  the  Free  Church.  He  is  an  indefatigable  worker.  He  has,  at  times,  a 
student  with  him,  who  t)eeiipies  the  pidpit  when  necessary,  wiiiie  he  goes 
upon  missionary  trips  to  the  country.  He  may  be  justly  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  laborious  and  useful  ministers  in  the  New  Church. 


KEUBEN  LUDLAM. 


Tin-:  cnniu'iit  physician  whose  iiaine  stands  at  the  head  of  this  page 
was  born  in  Camden,  New  Jersey,  October  7,  1831.  His  father,  the  hite 
Dr.  Jacob  W.  Ludlam,  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  rose  to  eminence  in  his  profession,  which  he  practiced  for  more  than 
thirty  years.  He  ever  sustained  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  man  of  honor 
and  integrity,  as  well  as  for  rare  skill  and  success  as  a  medical  practitioner. 
The  last  few  years  of  his  long  and  useful  life  were  spent  in  the  lovely 
suburban  town  of  Evanston,  where  he  died  in  1858.  His  still  survi\-ing 
widow,  the  mother  of  Dr.  Reuben  Ludlam,  is  a  native  of  Pliiladelphia, 
and  of  Quaker  parentage.  Six  other  members  of  this  numerous  family 
live  in  Chicago  and  vicinity — three  sons  and  three  daughters — one  of 
whom,  E.  M.  P.  Ludlam,  is  also  a  physician,  enjoying  au  extensive 
practice. 

The  earliest  recollections  of  Dr.  Ludlam  pertain  to  his  chosen  pro- 
fession, and  he  cannot  remember  the  time  when  he  did  not  expect  to 
adopt  it.  Herodotus,  the  Bayard  Taylor  of  ancient  Greece,  or,  the 
"Father  of  History,"  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  telLs  us,  in  the  account 
of  what  he  saw  and  heard  in  the  land  of  the  Pyramids,  that  every 
'Egyptian  followed  the  calling,  wiiatever  it  might  be,  of  his  father. 
In  his  opinion,  this  practice  was  one  secret  of  the  marvelous  proficiency 
which  that  people  attained  in  the  various  arts  known  t<»  them.  However 
that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  wiien,  as  in  tiiis  case,  the  following  in  the 
iiitiier's  footsteps  comes  from  choice,  it  has  decided  advantages.  Dr. 
Ludlam  has  attained  a  more  complete  mastery  of  the  various  departments 
of  his  profession,  and  especially  of  its  practice,  than  he  could  have  done 
had  he  kjiown  nothing  about  it  prior  to  devoting  himself  exclusively  to 


522  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

its  study.  He  was  the  companion  of  his  father  in  his  daily  rounds  of 
practice,  and  by  observation  and  conversation  with  his  lather,  who  took 
great  delight  and  pride  in  this  ''young  Hipix)crates,"  he  became  familiar 
with  diseases  and  their  remedies  from  very  childhood.  These  opportu- 
nities would  have  been  thrown  away  on  some,  but,  coupled  as  they  were 
with  an  innate  genius  for  the  calling,  they  proved  of  inestimable  benefit. 

While  yet  a  mere  youth,  midway  in  his  teens,  lie  commenced  the 
systematic  study  of  his  profession.  After  six  years  of  tireless  application, 
with  rare  advantages  for  obtaining  a  knowledge  of  both  the  theory  and 
the  practice  of  medicine,  under  the  eye,  for  the  most  part,  of  his  parental 
preceptor,  and  at  the  close  of  his  third  course  of  medical  lectures,  young 
Ludlam  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  in  INIarch,  1852,  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  from  which  his  lather  had  also  graduated,  and 
which  is  the  oldest  and  most  renowned  medical  college  in  America. 
While  a  student,  his  ready  scholarship  and  single  devotion  to  his  pro- 
fession gave  promise  of  a  brilliant  future. 

Dr.  Ludlam  removed,  soon  after  graduation,  to  this  city,  and  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  was  at  that  time  an  allopathist, 
and  "of  the  strictest  sect  a  Pharisee;"  but,  after  most  thorough  exami- 
nation into  the  merits  of  the  system  develo])eil  by  Hahnemann,  he  became 
from  irresistible  conviction  a  homoeopathist,  to  which  school  of  medical 
belief  he  has  ever  since  been  allied,  and  to  the  development  of  which  he 
has  labored  most  eifectively. 

The  practice  of  Dr.  Ludlam  soon  became  extensive  and  lucrative. 
But  he  was  not  long  allowed  to  pursue  it  undisturbed.  When  the  liiculty 
of  Hahnemann  Medical  College  was  organized,  he  was  tendered  the  Chair 
of  Physiology,  Pathology,  and  Clinical  Medicine.  He  remained  in  this 
Professorship  four  years,  to  the  entire  satisiaction  of  all  concerned.  At 
the  close  of  the  fourth  year,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics 
and  the  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children  in  the  same  institution,  a  position 
of  eminent  honor  and  usefulness,  which  he  still  continues  to  occupy.  As 
a  lecturer,  he  is  noted  for  being  practical,  modern,  thorough,  suggestive, 
and  lucid.  Every  subject  is  so  illustrated  as  to  rivet  the  attention, 
and  fasten  the  point  made  in  the  inemoi-y.  Many  of  his  lectures  have 
been  published,  with  general  acceptance  and  prolit  to  the  profession. 
At  the  opening  of  each  course  t»f  instruction,  he  delivers  an  introductory 
lecture.  We  give  the  titles  of  some  of  them  because  the  range  of  his 
thoughts,  and  his  aims  a.s  a  teacher,  may  be  inferred  therefrom:     ''The 


REUBEN    I>UDLAM.  o2o 

Kelations  of  ^Morbid  Anatomy  to  Practical  Medicine  j  "A  I'lta  ior  Pliv- 
.siology;"  "The  Methodical  Physician;"  "The  Superiorities  of  the 
Hoinfeopathic  Treatment;"  "The  Ups  and  Downs  oi'  a  Doctor's  Life;" 
and  "The  Nurse:  Her  Natural  IIi-(ory,  Duties  and  Responsibilities  as 
an   Aid  to  the  Physician." 

Jn  18G0,  Dr.  Ludlam,  whose  rcjjutatiou  as  a  medical  writer  had  thus 
early  been  established,  became  an  Associate  Edit(»r  of  the  "North  American 
Journal  of  lT(>m(i'oj)athy,"  a  (quarterly  now  in  its  sixteenth  volume,  pub- 
lished in  the  city  of  Xew  York.  Amou^-  the  nuiny  contributions  which 
it  has  since  eontained  from  his  })en,  we  may  mention  a  series  of  lectures  on 
"Clinical  Medicine;"  on  "Pseudo-Membranes,"  a  Translation  from 
Laboulbeue,  with  notes  ;  "  Physiological  Dietetics,"  the  distinction 
between  Food  and  Medicines;  "Pathology  a  I'ractical  Science." 

The  "American  Homoeopathic  Review,"  and  other  professional  jour- 
nals, nave  also  I'rom  time  to  time  been  enriched  by  the  productions  of  his 
fertile  brain.  In  the  "Medical  Investigator,"  we  find  exhaustive  essays  on 
"Tiie  Pulse;"  "Capillary  Bronchitis;"  Uriemia  a  Concomitant  of  Cholera 
Infantum;"  "The  Diagnosis  of  Hysterical  Affections;"  "The  General 
Physiology  and  Pathology  of  Infancy;"  a  Clinical  Lecture  on  "]\Ienor- 
rhagia;"  an  elaborate  "Es.say  on  Cholera  Ini'antum;"  "Clinical  Notes 
and  Suggestions  on  some  of  the  Diseases  Peculiar  to  Women;"  "The 
Uterine  and  Pulmonary  Sympathies."  In  the  "United  States  Medical 
and  Surgical  Journal:"  "On  the  Abuse  of  Local  Treatment  in  Ulceration 
of  the  Os-uteri;"  two  lectures  on  "Ovaritis;"  a  lecture  on  "Criminal 
Abortion;"  on  "Postural  Treatment  and  the  Forceps  in  Shoulder  Pie- 
sentation" — a  new  expedient,  first  devised  and  employed  by  tlu'  author. 

The  contributions  of  Dr.  Ludlam  have  not  been  confined  to  ])eriodical 
literature.  In  March,  1863,  Mr.  C.  S.  Halsey,  of  this  city,  published  a 
volume  of  his  works  entitled  "A  Course  of  Clinical  Jjcctui'cs  (»n  1  )iph- 
theria,  delivered  before  the  Class  of  Hahnemann  Medical  College."  We 
only  speak  the  verdict  of  In's  brethren  of  the  same  school  of  physic,  wiien 
we  say  that  this  work  is  more  thorough  than  any  of  its  predecessors  in 
the  differential  diagnosis  of  diphtheria  from  scarlatina,  croup  and  other 
similar  affections.  It  is  equally  j)raisewortliy  and  icliabli-  in  its  prognosis, 
.sequehe  aufl  treatment.  The  ideas  originally  advanced  by  its  author 
concerning  the  significance  of  the  peculiar  odor  of  tlu'  breath,  the  presence 
of  chlorides  in  the  sputa,  the  histology  of  the  pseudo-mcml)raue,  and  the 
pro2)er  employment  of  the  mercurius  jodatus  and  the  biclii'itmatc  dl'  pota-> 


524  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

in  its  various  forms,  have  been  generally  accepted  by  the  homoeopathic 
profession  as  very  important  and  entirely  correct.  Dr.  Ludlam  has  also 
in  an  advanced  stage  of  preparation,  and  will  publish  shortly,  a  complete 
work  upon  the  diseases  of  women. 

In  his  branch  of  the  medical  profession,  Dr.  Ludlam  is  truly  a  repre- 
sentative man.  He  is  the  honored  President  of  the  Western  Institute 
of  Homoeopathy,  an  organization  of  physicians  whose  membership  extends 
through  all  the  "Western  States.  He  also  holds  the  same  office  in  the 
Cook  County  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society,  and  is  in  editorial  charge 
of  the  obstetrical  department  of  the  "United  States  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal,"  a  flourishing  quarterly  published  in  this  city. 

As  a  practitioner  and  teacher,  his  reputation  is  a  credit  to  his  school 
and  to  our  city.  As  a  writer,  his  ])en  is  as  loth  to  write,  as  his  tongue  is 
to  speak  an  unkind  word  of  those  who  differ  from  him  in  professional 
opinion.  For  lack  of  time  and  inclination  he  has  never  written  anything 
upon  medical  polemics.  As  a  sample  of  his  liberality  of  sentiment,  as 
well  as  of  tlie  perspicuity  and  originality  of  his  style,  the  following 
extracts  are  taken  from  his  Introductory  Lecture  on  jSIedical  Toleration, 
delivered  in  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  October  16,  1867: 

"But  it  is  of  sectarian  animosities  in  medicine  that  1  design  to  speak  more 
particularly.  When,  having  a  written  revelation,  men  are  still  disposed  to  wrangle  and 
disagree  concerning  their  religious  belief  and  behavior,  it  is  no  marvel  that,  having  no 
such  dispensation  in  medical  matters,  they  are  not  the  less  inharmonious  and  inconsistent. 
If  they  quarrel  heavenward,  why  may  they  not  quarrel  healthward?  If  they  cannot 
amicably  interpret  and  put  into  exercise  a  true  and  universal  system  of  morals,  how  is  it 
possible  for  them  to  chime  upon  the  requirements  of  Hygiene,  and  the  ways  and  means 
designed  for  the  restoration  of  health  ? 

"Denominational  differences  are  necessary  and  salutary.  It  would  not  be  desirable 
suddenly  to  divorce  the  world  from  its  old  forms  of  belief.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  the 
human  mind  that  all  should  see  or  think  alike.  In  medical  and  in  moral  politics  there 
must  always  be  two  or  more  different  parties.  This  necessitates  the  machinery  of  organi- 
zation, opposition,  codes  of  orthodoxy,  heresy  hunters,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of 
progressive,  aggressive  and  defensive  warfare.  'You  cannot  make  an  Esquimaux  forswear 
train-oil  and  take  to  tea  and  toast  like  ourselves,  still  less  to  boiled  rice  like  a  Hindoo.' 

"The  mental  lens  through  which  we  look  into  questions  that  require  thought  and 
study,  real  brain-work,  for  their  solution,  varies  in  its  configuration  and  power  of 
refraction.  The  mind's  eye  is  accordingly  near  or  far-sighted,  amauratic,  or  positively 
blind.  What  is  clear  and  distinct  to  one  is  nebulous  to  another.  We  do  not  all  discern 
or  discriminate  alike,  any  more  than  it  is  possible  for  all  to  distinguish  the  different 
shades  of  color. 

"A  code  of  belief  is  a  species  of  nucleus  about  which  men  are  certain  to  crystalize. 


REUREX    EUDLAM.  525 

Tlic  shape,  as  well  as  the  size  of  the  crystal  will  depend  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances. 
The  organizing  force  is  represented  by  the  grand  idea  that  brings  them  together.  As 
crystals  are  of  various  patterns,  and  can  by  no  possibility  be  alike  in  every  particular, 
80,  in  the  organization  of  men  into  bodies  and  schools  of  belief,  the  product  must  vary 
with  the  nature  and  peculiarities  of  the  elements  of  which  it  is  composed,  and  of  the 
force  that  attracts  and  binds  them. 

*  *  *  *  »  » 

"Most  men  arc  not  more  responsible  for  their  peculiar  notions  on  political,  and  even 
medical  subjects,  tlian  they  are  for  tlieir  nativity.  Their  ideas  are  either  inherited, 
accidental,  or  possibly  acquired.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  worthless  property,  and  much 
of  real  value  also,  that  comes  down  from  father  to  son  independently  of  such  instruments 
as  a  will,  and  of  such  institutions  as  the  Probate  Court.  It  is  as  easy  to  secure  the  fruits 
of  thought  as  it  is  to  gain  other  varieties  of  wealth  by  pro.xy.  Hereditary  peculiarities 
and  possessions  are  not  all  of  a  physical  nature.  Deeds  for  dogmas  are  as  transmissible 
as  deeds  for  houses  and  lands,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  those  who  inherit  the  one  are  as 
tenacious  of  their  property  as  those  who  come  into  possession  of  the  other. 

"The  sudden  acquisition  of  wealth  or  of  fame,  as  if  by  accident,  is  a  severe  test 
of  character.  Tlie  same  is  true  of  the  gain  of  ideas  that  is  not  the  fruit  of  toil  and 
application.  The  force  of  circumstances  makes  men  imminent  rather  than  eminent. 
Perhaps  they  are  in  imminent  danger  of  becoming  eminent!  There  is  suf&cient  latitude 
in  the  words  and  works  of  accidental  men,  but  it  does  not  lean  toward  charity  and 
large-heartedness.  They  are  almost  certain  to  be  uncharitable.  They  are  earnest,  but 
erratic;  conspicuous  always,  but  seldom  consistent. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

"Literature  represents  the  genesis  and  genius  of  science.  Medical  literature  resem- 
bles geology.  The  history  of  this  department  of  human  effort  may  be  found  in  the  strata 
of  thought,  theory  and  practice  that  run  through  all  our  libraries.  As  geological  deposits 
and  details  reveal  the  most  curious  and  interesting  particulars  concerning  the  history  of 
the  earth,  so  the  different  'periods'  of  medical  development  and  decline  are  equally  pro- 
nounced and  suggestive.  Geology  demonstrates  that  the  creation  of  the  material  world 
has  been  progressive.  Step  by  step  the  rudimentary  has  given  place  to  the  more  perfect 
forms  of  existence  and  organization.     The  same   is  true  of  the  growtli  of  medical  ideas. 

*  »  #  *  *  * 
"It  would  be  futile  to  deny  that  these  remains  are  valuable  simply  because  they  are 

musty  with  age  and  neglect.  Recorded  mutations  in  the  world  of  thought  are  no  less 
important  than  those  which  indicate  to  the  geologist  and  physicist  tiie  most  varied  terres- 
trial changes.  It  is  possible  tliat  the  crust  nf  the  earth  conceals  more  beauties  than  are 
to  be  seen  above  it.  Submerged  from  sight,  buried  by  the  waves,  and  hidden  away  under 
the  ponderous  mountain,  are  secreted  such  achievements  in  architecture,  such  wonderful 
evidence  of  animal  and  vegetable  existence  in  near  and  remote  periods,  and  such  a  wealth 
of  precious  metals  as  excites  our  astonishment  and  admiration.  Nature  has  economized, 
embalmed  and  laid  away  these  stores  for  the  benefit  of  her  children. 

"So,  in  our  libraries,  we  may  read  the  records  of  the  grand,  majestic,  almost 
illimitable  Past.  From  the  sage  of  Cos  to  the  sage  of  Coethen,  from  Hippocrates  to 
Hahnemann,  the  accumulations  of  centuries  of  observation,  thought,  and  experience  are 
crystalized  and  condensed,  preserved  and  perpetuated  for  us.  We  have  only  to  dig  up 
and  develop,  to  unswathe  and  interpret  them. 


526  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 
"It  is  one  thing  to  profess  an  attachment  to  a  particular  theory  and  mode  of  practice; 

to  put  it  into  exercise  in  a  quiet,  unostentatious  manner;  to  possess  our  souls  in  patience 
for  the  coveted  results  and  rewards  thereof,  and  quite  another  thing  to  be  obtrusive, 
impertinent,  not  to  say  disgusting  to  sensible  people  who  may  or  may  not  sympathize 
with  us.  To  have  a  creed  is  a  common  necessity  with  mankind.  Who  holds  a  loose  rein 
will  drive  a  lean  horse.  The  doctor  without  a  guiding  principle  is  like  a  mariner  adrift 
without  a  compass.  But  the  laws  of  nature  were  set  in  operation  before  the  institutes 
of  medicine  were  written.  They  are  the  work  of  the  great  Father,  who  is  not  fallible 
like  ourselves.  They  are  fixed  and  immutable,  while  the  codes  that  we  create  may 
change  like  the  fashion  of  our  garments,  or  the  tints  of  the  foliage  between  spring  and 

autumn. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

"No  cause  is  more  likely  to  arouse  an  unfortunate  antagonism  among  doctors  of 
different  creeds  than  the  assumption  by  either  party  of  an  exclusive  right  to  medical 
knowledge.  Positive  refusal  to  counsel  together,  direct  and  emphatic  denials  of  ability  and 
experience,  an  open  infraction  of  the  ninth  commandment,  the  display  of  ungentlemanly 
and  unchristian  conduct,  are  some  of  the  fruits  of  this  feeling.  Both  the  instigators  and 
the  victims  of  this  temper  of  mind  are  apt  to  talk  harshly,  and  to  put  too  much  vinegar 
into  their  ink  when  they  write  for  the  medical  press. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 
"Long  since  homoeopatliy  was  promulgated  by  Hahnemann,  the  foundations  of  this 

great  city  were  laid  in  the  frontier  experiences  and  hardships  of  its  first  settlers.  The 
city  and  the  system  have  had  their  defamers  and  detractors,  not  a  few  of  whom  survive 
to  witness  the  marvelous  rapidity  of  their  growth  and  development.  As  the  citizen  lias 
left  behind  the  paltry  issues  of  primitive  history,  so  tlie  representative  of  this  method  of 
cure  will  outgrow  the  small-clothes  of  prejudice,  and  outlive  the  most  violent  opposition. 
Hahnemann  struck  the  key-note.     We  must  make  out  the  melody.     Let  us  not  drown  its 

sweetness  in  jangling  and  discord. 

*  o  *  *  *  * 

"Because  Hahnemann,  whose  name  our  college  is  proud  to  bear,  was  opposed, 
maligned,  abused,  and  persecuted  from  city  to  city,  we  are  not  to  take  up  the  cudgels 
against  all  those  who  adopt  the  faith  of  his  enemies,  and  who  continue  to  wage  a  war  of 
extermination  against  us  as  heretics.  Because  he  was  fallible,  we  need  not  be  ferocious. 
Because  he  was  compelled  to  vindicate  his  claims  to  a  hearing,  we  need  not,  therefore,  be 
vindictive  against  those  who  refuse  to  recognize  him  as  a  great  benefactor.  Our  circum- 
stances and  those  which  surrounded  him  are  reversed.  He  stood  alone  against  the 
sentiment,  tradition,  and  interest  of  the  whole  profession,  and  the  ignorance  and  credulity 
of  the  people.  We  have  thousands  of  the  best  practitioners  and  a  large  share  of  an 
intelligent  patronage  upon  our  side.  He  must  feel  and  fight  his  way  into  notice,  while 
we  are  privileged  to  spend  our  energies  in  elaborating  his  discovery,  and  adapting  it  to 
the  physical  necessities  of  mankind. 

"Harsh  words  have  no  healing  properties.  There  is  no  need  to  revive  the  old 
bitterness.  The  incontrovertible  logic  of  facts  is  the  best  lever  at  our  command.  As 
physical  injury  and  dissipation  trace  their  characters  in  the  lineaments  of  the  dissolute 
and  the  abandoned,  so  the  mental  fisticuffs  in  which  doctors  are  prone  to  indulge  leave 
tlieir  impress  on  the  mind  of  the  physician.      They  subtract   from  his  self-respect  and 


REUBEN   I.UDLAM.  527 

from   the  respectful  consideration  ami  confidence  that  community  reposes  in  him  ana 

his  calling. 

«•  «  »  •  «       .  « 

"We  should  therefore  cultivate  a  taste  lor  liarmony  among  the  fraternity,  and  keep 
an  eye  to  its  results.  War  is  more  likely  to  be  a  source  of  poverty  than  of  wealth.  It  is 
more  pleasant,  as  well  as  more  profitable,  to  liibor  for  llie  building  up  than  for  the 
breaking  down  of  professional  interests:  as  it  is  better  to  be  philanlliropists  tlian 
pugilists. 

"On  all  therapeutical  questions  it  is  most  politic  and  advisable  in  every  respect  to 
advocate  and  exercise  the  greatest  liberty  of  thought.  We  must  have  a  creed,  but,  in  the 
present  imperfect  state  of  medical  science,  that  creed  sliould  be  elastic  and  susceptible 
of  amendment.  For  who  shall  demonstrate  that  like  facilities  with  those  which  "sur- 
rounded the  old  worthies  whom  I  have  named,  and  which  they  failed  to  improve  and 
appreciate,  are  not  at  this  moment  awaiting  development  at  our  hands  .' 

*  *  «  *  *  * 
"If  I  had  a  theory  of  professional  re-organization  and  unity,  this  would  be  neither 

the  proper  place  nor  the  occasion  in  which  to  present  it.  When  Good  Friday  comes  on 
Sunday,  and  reconstruction  is  less  difficult  than  revolution,  the  Utopian  scheme  of  entire 
accord  among  the  doctors  may  well  be  entertained.  In  the  present  state  of  society  and 
of  human  knowledge,  we  must  not  expect  too  much  of  human  nature.  It  is  no  part  of  my 
purpose  to  weaken,  but  rather  to  strengthen  your  confidence  in  our  method  of  cure,  and 
whatever  concerns  it — to  counsel  you  to  such  a  course  of  study  and  conduct  as  will  make 
you  most  successful  and  respectable,  most  learned  and  useful.  'Not  C:vsar  less,  but  Rome 
more:'  not  Homoeopathy  less,  but  Humanity  more,  should  be  your  motto.  As  it  is  better 
to  be  producers  than  mere  partisans:  so,  lest  they  be  overthrown,  you  should  lay  the 
foundations  of  your  education  broad  and  deep.     The  denominational  tmdf-v/inds  should 

help,  and  not  hinder  your  progress. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

''1  know  very  well  the  incentives  that  will  tend  to  develop  your  sectarian  feeling:? 
and  prejudices.  There  is  no  fear  but  reasons  will  suggest  themselves  why  you  should 
be  emphatic  in  your  preferences.  You  are  properly  so  already,  and  clinical  experience 
will  doubtless  confirm  and  establish  your  faith.  But  there  is  need  to  caution  you  against 
carrying  your  denominational  preferences  and  prejudices  so  far  as  to  merge  them  into  a 
species  of  vindictive  pleasure. 

"It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  recommend  the  cultivation  and  exercise  of  a  spirit  of 
toleration  towards  those  who  differ  from  you  in  theory  and  practice.  For  this  reason 
you  should  make  yourselves  thoroughly  conversant  with  all  the  branches  of  a  liberal 
medical  education.  You  should  read  and  ponder  both  the  ancient  and  the  modern 
authors:  listen  to  the  teachings  of  your  predecessors  and  preceptors;  glean  from  the 
experience  of  tliose  by  whom  you  are  surrounded  ;  and,  gatliering  available  information 
from  any  and  every  possible  source,  submit  it  to  the  alembic  of  your  own  minds.  Culture 
of  this  kind  will  make  you  charitable.  Professional  ability  will  make  you  amiable  and 
liberal.  For  it  is  the  lack  of  knowledge,  and  not  the  excess  of  it,  that  makes  men 
intolerant. 

"  Apart  from  the  satisfaction  that  springs  from  the  amelioration  of  suffering,  and 
from  having  relieved  the  physical  infirmities  of  mankind,  there  is  a  peculiar  pleasure  in 
the  study  and  contemplation  of  whatever  pertains  to  the  science  and  art  of  healing.      If 


528 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


you  acquire  the  habit  of  dwelling  upon  these  topics,  of  feeding  the  mind  upon  this 
palatable  food,  you  will  be  weaned  from  tasting  the  dry,  polemical  husks,  upon  which  so 
many  have  starved.  If  you  would  reap  abundantly,  you  should  sow  the  seeds  of  future 
influence  in  this  congenial  soil.  This  is  the  investment  of  time  and  means  and  effort  that 
will  yield  you  the  largest  returns." 


Dr.  Liidlam  lias  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Anna 
M.  Porter,  of  Greenwich,  New  Jersey,  to  whom  he  was  married  in 
October,  1856.  This  most  estimable  lady  died  of  consumjjtion,  in 
Chicago,  in  the  month  of  December,  1858.  On  the  25th  of  September, 
1861,  he  married  his  present  wdfe.  Miss  H.  G.  Parvin,  of  New  York  city. 
He  has  but  one  child,  a  son,  who  bears  his  father's  name. 


HENRY  M.  SMITH. 


For  fifteen  years  Mr.  Smith  has  been  connected  witli  the  jjress  of 
Chicago,  having  entered  npon  liis  profession  here. 

Henry  Martyn  Smith,  the  second  son  of  a  New  England  Congre- 
gational clergyman,  Rev.  S.  S.  Smith,  the  latter  now  a  resident  of  our 
city,  was  born  in  New  Bedford,  :Massacluisetts,  May  5,  1830.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  entered  Amherst  College,  graduating  in  tlie  class  of  1851. 
JAke  many  young  New  England  graduates,  especially  clergymen's  sons, 
there  lell  to  him  an  intermediate  period  of  school  teaching,  having  a 
bearing  up(»n  the  subject  of  college  debts.  He  came  AVest  in  1851, 
entering  the  flimily  of  the  then  steamboat  king.  Captain  E.  B.  Ward,  of 
Detroit,  as  private  tutor  in  charge  of  his  two  sons. 

In  1852,  Mr.  Smith  commenced  the  study  of  tlie  law,  in  the  office  of 
George  E.  Hand,  Esq.,  United  States  District  Attorney  at  Detroit;  but 
after  a  few  months,  finding  his  health  impaired  by  office  conlinement,  he 
came  to  Chicago,  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  became  local  editor 
of  the  "Chicago  Evening  Journal."  The  office  of  the  "Journal"  was  on 
Lake  street,  and  Richard  L.  Wilson  was  its  senior  editor.  Journalism  in 
Ciiicago  was  not  then  what  it  now  is,  but  the  "Journal"  was,  even  at  that 
time,  an  old  and  favorite  paper.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  zealous  and  in.K- 
iiitigablc  reporter,  with  a  geniality  of  temper  and  pleasantry  <>1"  humor 
which  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  the  collection  and  prei)aration  of  city 
news.  He  hits  often  warndy  exi)rcsscd  his  sense  (»f  the  value  «»f  Kicliard 
L.  Wilson's  influence  as  a  i)rofc*sion;il  preceptor;  and  one  single  piece  of 
advice  given  by  the  veteran  editor  to  iiis  young  assistant  is  worthy  of  a 
blazon  in  gold  letters  in  every  editorial  room:  "Never  give  to  the  printer 
a  line  of  copy  you  would  not  be  willing  your  mother  or  your  sister  should 


530  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

read  in  your  inaiuiseript."  How  would  this  rule,  \v'isely  followed,  redeem 
our  public  journals  from  the  salacious  and  dubious  allusions  and  double 
entendrcs  that  too  often  disgrace  them.  After  three  years'  service  in  the 
city  department  of  the  "Journal/'  JNIr.  Smith  became  city  editor  of  the 
"Democratic  Press,"  and  a  few  years  later,  on  the  consolidation  of  that 
sheet  with  the  "Chicago  Tribune,"  the  city  editor  of  "the  consolidated." 

With  the  successive  stages  of  the  advance  of  journalism  in  Chicago, 
Mr.  Smith  has  had  a  most  creditable  share.  He  was  largely  identitied 
with  the  growth  of  the  system  of  special  dispatches  and  the  free  use  of 
telegraphic  news,  whereby  the  once  vaunted  position  of  "New  York 
papers,"  as  news  mediums,  was  destroyed,  w-est  of  the  Lakes.  JNIr.  Smith 
and  his  present  associates  in  the  "Chicago  Republican,"  Mr.  James  F. 
Ballantyne  and  Mr.  George  D.  AVilliston,  w^ere  ibr  several  years  rising 
members  of  the  "Tribune"  corps,  and  among  its  stockholders,  parting 
with  their  interest  in  July,  1866,  to  enter  upon  their  new  enterprise. 

In  1854,  INIr.  Smith  married  Harriet  A.,  eldest  daughter  of  Hon. 
Charles  Hudson,  of  Massachusetts,  four  children — three  sons  and  a 
daughter,  being  the  fruit  of  the  union. 

Mr.  Smith  has  been  fortunate  in  real  estate  investments,  and  is  a 
thorough  believer  in  the  future  of  Chicago,  to  the  prosperity  and  advance- 
ment of  which  no  agency  has  been,  and  must  continue  to  be,  more 
powerful  than  that  exerted  by  her  journalists. 


HOOPEPt   CREAVS. 


This  man  is  a  fit  representative  of  those  hardy  pioneers  to  whom 
Western  civilization  owes  so  nmch.  Men  of"  sturdy  frame  and  fiery  spirit, 
of  strong  purpose,  of  unfaltering  determination;  men  Avho  could  mingle 
easily  in  any  society,  coml^ining  the  dignity  of  the  sacred  office  with  the 
abandon  of  the  backwoodsman;  men  who  had  the  courage  to  go  in 
advance  of  "calls,"  and  on  frontier  lines,  and  in  cabins  and  tents,  to  act 
as  avant  couriers  of  Christianity,  education  and  culture. 

Hooper  Ckews  was  born  under  Pruett's  Knob,  Bowen  County, 
Kentucky,  April  17,  1807.  When  only  six  years  of  age,  his  father  died 
suddenly,  leaving  an  estate  so  encumbered  by  debt  that  little  remained  f  )r 
the  widow  and  children.  The  widow  was  a  woman  of  heroic  will  and 
rare  executive  ability.  She  kept  her  children  together,  cared  for  their 
wants,  and  taught  them  the  elements  of  a  good  character.  Mr.  Crews 
says:  "For  every  good  quality  I  may  possess,  I  am,  under  God,  more 
indebted  to  my  mother  than  to  any  other  instrumentality." 

Schools  were  few — academies  were  unheard  of,  in  the,  then,  existing 
development  of  Kentucky.  The  struggle  for  food  and  clothing  left  little 
opportunity  fi)r  education  after  the  ordinary  way;  but  what  the  mother 
could,  she  did.  She  taught  her  children  to  abhor  strong  driidv;  she 
taught  them  that  slavery  was  wrong,  and  would,  some  time,  make  sad 
mischief  in  the  country. 

In  August,  182G,  Mr.  Crews  made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  unite<l 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  actively  engaged  in  all  the 
duties  of  his  new  relation.  The  church  licensed  him  as  an  exhcirtcr,  and 
he  began  to  speak  to  the  jieople  in  their  cabins  and  school-houses.  The 
Ilev.  -bmathan  Stamper,  then  Proiding  El<l<'r,  a  man  who  read  characffM- 


532  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

at  a  glance,  saw  the  mettle  of  the  youth,  and,  "wishing  an  assistant  on  the 
Bowling  Green  Circuit,  detailed  him  for  the  work.  It  was  no  child's 
play  to  do  the  work  of  that  field  of  toil;  but  our  zealous  exhorter  did  it, 
much  to  the  aj^proval  of  the  people,  and  with  signal  success. 

In  September,  1829,  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  admitted  into  the 
Kentucky  Conference.  It  almost  provokes  a  smile,  to  read  that  he  was 
appointed  to  "Salt  River"  Circuit.  He  has  not  often  acknowledged 
defeat,  but  confesses  to  having  been  "  up  Salt  River,"  where  he  remained 
two  years,  when  he  received  Deacons'  orders,  and  was  appointed  to 
Greensburg  Circuit.  Two  years  later  he  received  Elders'  orders,  and  was 
stationed  in  Russelville. 

In  1834,  he  came  to  Southern  Illinois,  and  met  Bishop  Roberts.  The 
venerable  Bisho])  knew  what  stuff  a  pioneer  should  be  made  of,  and 
requested  Mr.  Crews  to  go  to  Galena  and  take  charge  of  a  small  mission 
district  as  Presiding  Elder,  and  also  to  serve  the  Galena  Mission  as 
pastor.  He  heard  the  Bishoj^,  took  an  hour  for  consideration,  accepted, 
and  the  next  morning  rode  out  of  the  village  of  Mt.  Carmel,  on  the 
Wabash,  turning  northward  the  head  of  his  trusty  horse.  Each  early 
Methodist  clergyman  was  a  thorough  horseman — knew  a  good  horse  "on 
sight;"  could  ride  one  wherever  the  most  daring  hunter  could  make  his 
way;  could  climb  hills,  thread  forests,  or  swim  rivers;  and,  if  need  be, 
when  night  came,  could  bivouac  under  the  greenwood,  by  his  steed.  Not 
the  knights  of  chivalry  better  loved  or  more  trusted  their  barbs,  than 
these  knights  of  the  Cross  their  horses.  Five  hundred  miles  were  to  be 
traveled  ere  he  reached  his  field. 

Xow,  four  great  Conferences  are  in  Illinois  alone,  with  fragments  of 
two  others.  The,  then,  old  Illinois  Conference  embraced  all  the  white 
settlements  in  the  State,  and  all  north  and  west,  with  the  Indian  ^lissions, 
both  white  and  Indian.  In  this  territory  there  were  forty-three  Methodist 
ministers,  scattered  from  the  southern  and  eastern  lines  of  the  State  to 
Burlington  and  Dubuque,  and  north  to  Green  Bay.  Says  Mr.  Crews: 
"A  more  happy,  cheerful  company  of  men  has  never  been  seen  than 
scattered  from  that  Conference  to  hard  and  rugged  fields  of  labor. 
Settlements  were  comparatively  few,  and  were  often  widely  separated;  we 
had  an  extensive  frontier  line;  we  had  few  highways,  and  scarcely  any 
bridges." 

In  1835,  ]Mr.  Crews  was  appointed  to  Springfield,  and,  before 
occupying   his  pulpit,  he    returned  to    Russelville,  and  Avas    married  to 


HOOPER   CREWS.  533 

Miss  Mary  Frances  Smith,  who  has  i^'uwv  \)vvu  liis  dcvoied  will'  and 
faithful  lielper.  After  two  years  in  Springlield,  he  was  aj>j)ointi'd 
Presiding  Elder  of  Danville  District.  ]t  is  interesting  to  read  the 
boundaries  of  that  district:  "From  Iroquois  County,  on  the  north,  to 
White  County,  on  the  south,  embracing  all  the  timber  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Grand  Prairie." 

In  1840,  the  Rock  River  Conference  was  set  off  Irom  i\\v  llliiKjis,  and 
Mr.  Crews  was  assigned  within  it  and  stationed  in  Chicago.  He  says: 
"  I  started  from  Danville,  and,  after  four  days'  travel  through  alm(«t 
incessant  rain  and  horrible  roads,  with  my  family  I  reached  Chicago, 
October  17th.  I  drove  to  the  Tremont  House,  on  the  corner  of  liake 
and  Dearborn  streets.  It  was  in  the  night;  I  was  a  stranger.  That 
Tremont  was  not  the  Tremont  House  of  to-day,  it  being  a  frame,  not 
large — two  stories  high.  I  went  out  after  supper,  and  found  Reverend 
John  T.  Mitchell,  Presiding  Elder,  conducting  a  prayer  meeting,  at  which 
twenty-three  persons  were  in  attendance."  He  gives  this  picture  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  that  time.     How  unlike  to-day! 

"  The  next  morning  I  attended  the  quarterly  love-feast.  The  church 
edifice  was  an  unpainted  wooden  structure,  twenty-two  by  sixty,  fronting 
on  AA^ashingtou  street.  The  exterior  was  uninviting,  and  the  interior 
much  dilapidated.  The  roll  of  members  was  one  hundred  and  fifty,  but 
at  the  comnuniion  I  only  found  sixty-eight.  Financially,  the  city  was 
crushed.  INIany  had  ]>urchased  property  on  time,  had  i'ailed  to  meet 
some  of  the  payments,  and  had  forfeited  all.  Everything  was  in  confu- 
sion. Two  lots  belonging  to  our  Church  had  thus  been  lost,  and  we 
owned  no  real  estate  in  the  city.  By  special  act,  the  State  permitted  each 
denomination  to  select  a  lot  of  the  Canal  Lands,  and  a  deed  was  given, 
limiting  the  i)roperty  to  church  uses,  and  thus  we  secured  the  lot  on  the 
corner  of  ( "lark  and  Washington  streets.  Our  parsonage  was  removed 
from  Adams  street,  and  placed  on  the  south  line  of  our  lot,  fronting  on 
Clark  street." 

The  worshijKTS  in  the  First  Church,  Wabash  avenue.  Centenary, 
Grace  and  Trinity  Churches  will  find  it  dilHcult  lo  realize  the  accuracy 
of  this  picture  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  During  the  year,  the 
church  Mas  enlarged  and  refitted,  and  the  task  was  more  formidable  than 
the  erection  of  one  of  the  stately  churches  of  <o-day. 

From  that  date  Mr.  Crews  hits  been  identilied  with  Xorthern  Illinois, 
and  much  of  the  time  with  Chicago,  though  not  continuously  in  tht-  city. 


534  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

He  has  been  here  as  pastor  and  as  Presiding  Ekler,  has  been  present  at 
church  councils,  and  his  name  is  among  the  most  familiar  and  most 
honored  of  our  old  citizens. 

He  was  early  noted  for  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  temperance  and  moral 
reform.  The  Christian  laborers  of  twenty  years  ago  remember  meeting 
him  and  co-operating  with  him  among  the  docks,  in  the  streets,  in 
desolate  quarters  of  the  city,  and  in  the  prisons ;  for  such  laborers  have 
fellow  sympathy.  Mr.  Crews  possesses  an  engaging  appearance,  his 
countenance  is  attractive,  his  voice  sonorous,  his  manner  pleasant.  The 
stranger  and  the  desolate  feel  they  can  trust  him.  His  preaching  has 
been  characterized  by  great  fervor  and  spiritual  unction. 

There  are  those  whose  ideal  of  the  pioneer  minister  is  an  uncouth, 
unkempt  man,  a  good  horseman,  a  man  of  blunt  manners,  brusque  air, 
ready  to  preach  or  fight,  as  occasion  may  seem  to  demand.  Mr.  Crews  is 
a  finished  gentleman  in  his  deportment.  No  young  licentiate  can  be 
neater  in  his  dress,  and  few  men  have  more  real  ease  and  <lignity  of 
manner. 

Those  pioneer  preachers  were  friends  and  patrons  of  learning. 
Mr.  Crews  gave  three  years  of  arduous  toil,  at  a  })eriod  of  pecuniary 
revulsion,  to  the  interests  of  Rock  lliver  Seminary,  at  Mount  Morris. 
He  traveled,  preached,  exhorted,  sung,  prayed  and  solicited,  in  behalf  of 
Christian  education. 

He  has  been  a  constant  friend  and  adviser  of  the  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute,  a  school  fi)r  the  training  of  our  clergy.  Almost  uninterruptedly 
he  has  been  one  of  its  Trustees.  AVhen  the  Northwestern  University  at 
Evanston  was  originated,  he  gave  his  hearty  co-operation,  and  has  rarely 
been  absent  from  the  meetings  of  its  Trustees. 

To-day  he  feels  an  interest  in  the  schools  of  the  city,  not  surpassed  by 
any  young  clergyman  of  his  district.  Well  he  knows,  and  earnestly  he 
teaches,  that  "wisdom  and  knowledge"  must  "be  the  stability  of  our 
times." 

He  has  been  with  his  churcli  in  this  city  in  days  of  gloom,  when 
prospects  were  dark,  and  tlie  skies  were  lowering.  He  has  been  here 
when  it  was  threatened  by  dissension  and  perilled  from  other  causes. 
He  has  worked  with  others,  hoped  witli  the  few  who  had  courage  to  hope 
— worked  for  its  temporal  interests  and  for  its  spiritual  welfare. 

He  is  with  it  now,  in  the  days  of  its  prosperity.  He  looks  gladly 
and    thoughtfully  upon   the  sixteen    dedicated    churches,   and  the  other 


iroorER  CREWS.  535 

tcmpoi-ary  places  of  worship,  whore,  in  throe  laiigna<i^es,  his  people  gather. 
Ilis  heart  is  as  warm  and  his  spirit  ;is  sweet  as  ever.  The  city  owes  imieh 
to  such  men.  It  does  well  to  preserve  the  record  of  their  pure  lives  and 
spotless  character. 

When  the  war  came,  Mr.  Crews  throw  his  soul  and  heart  into  the 
strui2:gle.  He  knew  the  Southern  temper,  and  that  a  desperate  strufrgle 
was  before  us.  He  served  one  year  as  Chaplain  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fourteenth  Ilegimont  Illinois  A^olunteers,  and  only  resigned  when 
compelled  to  do  so  by  failing  health. 

His  son  won  promotion  to  a  captaincy  by  gallantry  on  the  field,  and  is 
now  a  Lieutenant  in  the  regular  army.  There  are  two  daughters — one 
resident  in  Bowling  Green,  Kentucky;  the  other  is  at  home. 

He  has  never  swerved  from  his  faith  in  the  almost  unlimited  growth 
of  this  city  of  his  love.  He  came  to  it  when  there  were  scarcely  four 
thousand  inhabitants;  he  walks  along  the  streets  among  more  than  two 
hundred  thousand,  and  is  confident  that  it  has  only  begun  to  grow.  To 
such  as  he  it  owes  much  of  its  prosperity. 


EDWIN  CHAINING  LARNED. 


Edwin  Chaxning  Larned  ^vas  born  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
July  14,  1820.  His  father,  John  Smith  Larncd,  was  a  prominent  and 
influential  merchant  of  that  city.  His  grandfather,  William  Larncd, 
of  the  same  place,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  a  man  of 
standing  and  character,  and  greatly  esteemed  in  the  community  in  which 
he  lived.  Mr.  Larncd's  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Luciuda  Martin, 
was  a  lady  of  fine  mind  and  much  cultivation. 

Mr.  Larned  was  educated  at  private  schools  in  Providence,  and  was 
graduated  at  Brown  University,  Rhode  Island,  in  the  year  1840.  He 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  while  in  college, 
and  held  a  creditable  position  as  a  scholar  while  at  the  University. 

Immediately  on  his  leaving  college,  he  accepted  the  position  of  Pro- 
fessor of  INIathematics  in  Kemper  College,  an  institution  then  i-ecently 
started,  under  the  auspices  of  leading  Episcopalians,  near  St.  Louis, 
Missouri.  After  remaining  a  year  at  this  institution,  he  resigned  his 
position  and  returned  to  Rhode  Island.  It  was  upon  this  return  trip,  in 
the  autumn  of  1841,  that  he  first  saw  Chicago.  He  made  the  journey  by 
stage  coach  from  St.  Louis  across  the  State  of  Illinois  to  Chicago,  where 
he  stopped  at  the  Lake  House,  on  the  North  Side,  that  being,  at  that 
time,  the  principal  hotel  in  the  city.  On  his  return  to  Rhode  Island, 
Mr.  Larned  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  A.  C. 
Greene,  then  Attorney  General,  and  subsequently  United  States  Senator 
from  that  State — a  man  who,  as  a  nisi  pirn  lawyer,  had  no  superior  at 
the  Rhode  Island  bar. 

Mr.  Larned  was  compelled,  at  an  early  age,  to  rely  mainly  on  himself 
for  his  education  and  advancement  in  life.      His  father's  circumstances 


638  '  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

becomino-  eiubaiTassed,  lie  was  unable  to  provide  a  .suitable  education  I'or 
his  large  family,  and  Mr.  Larned,  by  liis  own  efforts,  secured  for  himself 
the  means  to  defray  the  expense  of  his  education,  both  at  school  and 
college.  When  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Rhode  Island, 
his  means  were  wholly  exhausted,  and  he  was  compelled  to  borrow  from 
a  friend  the  twenty  dollars  which  was  then  required  in  that  State  for  a 
license  to  practice  law.  By  his  industry,  perseverance  and  devotion  to 
business,  he  soon  worked  his  way  upward,  and  in  a  short  time  Avas  taken 
as  a  partner  into  the  law  office  of  Hon.  Richard  W.  Greene,  then  one  of 
the  most  eminent  laAvyers  at  the  Rhode  Island  bar,  and  who  Avas  subse- 
quently appointed  Chief  Justice  of  that  State.  He  continued  for  seA^eral 
years  in  business  Avith  Mr.  Greene,  and  afterwards  AA'ent  into  business  by 
himself;  Avas  elected  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  that  State, 
and  Avas  fast  acquiring  reputation  and  business  in  liis  profession,  Avlicn 
his  attention  Avas  turned  to  the  West  as  the  true  i)lace  for  young  men  to 
accomplish  success  in  life,  and  he  determined  to  remove  to  Chicago,  and  in 
September,  1847,  accepted  an  iuAntation  from  Cyrus  Bcntley,  Esq.,  to  join 
him  as  a  partner  in  the  jn'actice  of  the  profession  of  the  law  in  that  city. 

Mr.  Larned  continued  in  business  Avith  Mr.  Bentley  for  about  three 
years,  and  subsequently  formed  a  connection  Avith  John  Woodbridge,  Esq., 
under  the  firm  of  Larned  tt  Woodbridge,  and,  at  a  later  j^eriod,  with 
Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold  and  George  W.  Lay,  under  the  firm  of  Arnold, 
Larned  &  Lay.  He  became  associated  Avitli  his  present  partner,  Stephen 
A.  GoodAvin,  Esq.,  in  the  year  1857. 

Mr.  Larned's  time  has  been,  in  the  main,  industriously  devoted  to  the 
Avork  of  his  profession,  both  as  a  counselor  and  an  advocate.  He  has 
attained  to  a  large  and  lucrative  practice,  and  is  ranked  among  the  first 
laAvyers  of  the  Chicago  bar,  But  few  members  of  the  bar  Avhora  he 
f)un(l  here  twenty  years  ago  now  remain  in  jiraotice — a  large  number 
liaA'c  died,  and  others  liaA^e  remoA^ed  from  Chicago,  or  gone  into  other 
pursuits. 

Mr.  Larned  AA-as  appointed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  United  States  Attorney  for 
the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  in  April,  1861,  and  continued  to  perform 
the  duties  of  the  office  until  XoA^ember,  1864.  In  1863,  Mr.  Larned's 
health  haAang  become  impaired  by  OA'cr-Avork  in  his  j^rofessional  and 
political  labors,  he,  Avith  permission  of  the  Attorney  General,  took  a  leaA^e 
of  absence  from  his  official  post  for  some  months,  and  sailed  for  Europe 
in  April  of  that  year.     He  returned  in  December,  after  a  trip  through 


EDWIN   CHANNING    LARNKD.  539 

ihc  j)riii('ii);il  portions  of  Europe,  with  his  licaltli  entirely  restored,  and 
resumed  tlie  duties  of  his  ])rofessiou.  Shortly  after  his  return,  and  chiefly 
with  a  view  to  reduce  the  amount  of  his  professional  labors  and  responsi- 
bilities, Mr.  Larned  resioned  the  office  of  United  States  District  Attorney. 
His  resignation  was  aceei)ted  \\\t\\  regret  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  expresscsl 
his  entire  satisfaction  Avith  the  manner  in  which  the  duties  of  the  oilicc 
had  been  discharged  during  ]\rr.  Larned's  term,  and  his  confidence  in  his 
j)ersonal  character  and  ability,  and  paid,  at  the  same  time,  a  handsome 
tribute  to  the  straightforward  consistency  and  conscientious  regard  lor  the 
right  which  had  characterized  Mr.  Larned's  course  on  all  pul)lic  (juestions. 

jNIr.  Larned  has  been  from  the  first  an  earnest  and  consistent  anti- 
slavery  man.  He  has  nothing  to  take  back  or  modily  in  his  })olitical 
record.  His  first  public  speech  in  Chicago  was  jnade  in  the  year  1851,  in 
the  hall  of  a  brick  edifice  which  formerly  stood  in  the  centre  of  State, 
near  liandolph  street,  and  was  known  as  the  South  Market  Hall,  then 
the  chief  public  hall  of  the  city.  This  speech  was  made  in  reply  to 
one  made  at  the  same  place,  on  a  previous  evening,  by  Senator  Douglas. 
It  was  a  discussion  of  the  objections  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  then 
recently  enacted  by  Congress,  and  of  the  justice  and  propriety  of  which 
Judge  Douglas  had  sought  to  convince  the  people  of  Chicago.  INIr. 
Larned's  speech  on  this  occasion  was  one  of  the  ablest  efforts  of  his  life. 
It  was  extensively  circulated  throughout  the  country  by  the  public  press, 
and  received  the  warmest  commendation  from  leading  men.  Senator 
Douglas  himself,  in  speaking  of  it  to  a  brother  Senator,  characterized  it 
as  the  best  argument  which  had  been  made  on  that  side  of  the  question. 

Shortly  afterwards,  Mr.  Larned,  in  connection  with  the  late  Judge 
Manierre,  volunteered  his  services  as  counsel  for  the  first  colored  man 
who  Mas  arrested  in  Chicago  under  this  law.  The  trial  of  this  case, 
which  created  the  most  intense  public  excitement,  was  had  before  the  late 
George  "SV.  ]\reeker,  Esq.,  United  States  Commissioner,  in  the  old  United 
States  Court  Room,  in  what  was  known  as  the  Saloon  IJuilding,  then 
standing  at  the  corner  of  Clark  and  Lake  streets. 

In  consequence  of  the  illness  of  the  senior  counsel,  Judge  Manierre, 
the  closing  argument  of  the  case  devolved  upon  Mr.  Larned.  The  case 
resulted  in  the  discharge  of  the  person  arrested  as  a  fugitive.  The  hall 
was  densely  })acked  when  the  decision  was  made,  the  crowd  extending, 
in  solid  mass,  from  the  court-room,  in  the  third  story,  which  was  filled, 
through  the  halls  and  stairways  to  the  street  below. 


540  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  Commissioner's  decision  was  received  with  the  wildest  cheers  and 
excitement,  and  the  colored  man  was  passed  at  once  over  the  heads  of  the 
crowd  out  of  the  court-room  and  down  the  stairways  to  the  street,  and  in 
an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  was  on  his  way  to  Canada,  out  of  reach 
of  process  or  pursuit  by  the  claimant.  The  colored  citizens  of  Chicago 
subsequently  raised  a  subscriiition  among  themselves,  and  presented  to  Mr. 
Manierre  and  Mr.  Larned  each  a  silver  cup,  with  an  appropriate  inscrip- 
tion, in  token  of  their  grateful  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  by 
them  on  that  occasion.  Subsequently,  in  1860,  Mr.  Larned,  in  connection 
with  Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold,  acted  as  counsel  for  Joseph  Stout,  who  was 
indicted  in  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  offense  of  rescuing  a 
fugitive  slave  at  Ottawa.  Mr.  Larned's  argument  to  the  jury  on  that 
trial  was  regarded  by  many  as  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent  effort  of  his 
professional  life.  It  was  subsequently  published,  and  was  instrumental  in 
some  degree  in  awakeuing  the  public  mind  to  a  fuller  appreciation  of  the 
great  danger  to  the  liberty  of  the  citizeu,  resulting  from  the  enforcement 
of  this  act. 

It  was  not  long  afterward  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Larned 
to  have  it  in  his  power,  as  United  States  District  Attorney,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Attorney-General,  to  dismiss  a  number  of  indictments 
which  were  then  pending  upon  the  docket  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  against  leading  citizens  for  the  alleged  oifense  of  assisting  in  the 
rescue  of  fugitive  slaves.  So  ended  finally,  and  forever,  all  attempts  in 
this  District  to  prosecute  and  punish  our  citizens  for  giving  a  helping  hand 
to  the  poor  outcasts  of  the  South  on  their  way  to  freedom. 

Mr.  Larned  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration, 
and  in  the  great  contest  of  the  civil  war  he  was  an  ardent  and  devoted 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Union.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Citizens'  Union  Defense  Committee,  and  as  such  w^ent  to  Washington  and 
St.  Louis  on  matters  connected  with  the  equipping  of  regiments  for  the 
war,  and  others  pertaining  to  the  public  safety.  His  voice  and  pen  were 
given  to  the  cause  from  first  to  last.  He  addressed  the  great  war  meeting, 
held  in  the  Court  House  Square  in  1862,  and  was  constant  and  unremit- 
ting in  his  efforts,  by  public  speeches,  correspondence  with  public  men, 
and  personal  influence  and  labors,  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the 
country  throughout  the  struggle. 

Mr.  Larned  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  Important  public  measures 
for  the  benefit  and  improvement  of  the  city  of  Chicago.     In  1850,  in 


EDWIN   CHANNING   LARNED.  541 

association  Mitli  lion.  Jolin  M.  Wilson,  he  assisted  in  the  preparation  ot" 
the  act  to  incorporate  the  "  Chicago  City  Hydraulic  Company,"  apjiroved 
February  14,  1851,  under  which  the  present  Chicago  Water  Works  were 
constructed. 

In  the  autumn  of  1854,  succeeding  the  second  visitation  of  our  city 
by  cholera,  Mr.  Larned  directed  public  attention  to  the  very  defective 
condition  of  its  sewerage,  and  procured  a  call  for  a  public  meeting.  At 
this  meeting  he  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  committee  to  prepare  a  bill 
to  remedy  the  evil.  He  was  deputed  to  draft  the  bill;  and  the  present 
sewerage  law,  under  Avhich  the  entire  existing  sewerage  system  of  our  citv 
has  been  since  carried  on,  was  in  the  main  prepared  by  him.  Probably 
few  measures  have  conduced  more  to  the  health  and  prosperitv  of  our  citv. 
Upon  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Sewerage  Commissioners  under 
that  act,  Mr.  Larned  was  appointed  its  Attorney,  and  continued  to  act  in 
that  capacity  until  it  was  subsequently  merged  in  the  present  Board  of 
Public  Woi-lcs. 

]\Ir.  Larned  served  for  several  years  as  one  of  the  Inspectors  of  Public 
Schools,  and  while  acting  in  that  capacity,  became  impressed  M^ith  the 
great  defect  of  the  existing  mode  of  inspection  and  the  importance  of  the 
appointment  of  a  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools.  In  the  autumn  of 
1853,  he  drew  an  ordinance  for  the  appointment  of  such  an  officer,  and, 
in  connection  with  his  associates  in  the  Board  of  Inspectors,  urged  the 
adoption  of  the  same  by  the  Common  Council.  The  ordinance  was  passed 
November  28,  1853.  It  gave  the  apj)ointment  of  the  Superintendent  to 
the  Board  of  School  Insjiectors;  and  the  duty  of  corresponding  with 
friends  of  education  at  the  Ea.st,  and  of  finding  a  suitable  man,  in  the 
main  devolved  upon  Mr.  Larned.  The  result  was  the  appointment  of 
our  fellow-citizen,  John  C.  Dore,  Esq.,  who,  for  several  years,  so  ably  and 
successfully  performed  the  duties  of  the  office,  and  did  so  much  to  improve 
the  general  condition  of  our  public  schools. 

In  the  winter  of  1864-5,  !Mr.  Larned  devoted  much  time  and  labor  to 
the  subject  of  the  improvement  of  the  Chicago  River,  and  of  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  ciiy.  He  wrote  various  articles  for  tlu;  puldic  press, 
directing  attention  to  these  matters,  and  addressed  a  meeting  subsequently 
called  to  consider  the  subject,  at  which  time  a  committee  of  thirty 
of  our  leading  citizens  was  appointed,  Mr.  Lariied  being  one.  This 
committee  acted  with  great  vigor  and  industry,  and  their  labor  contributed, 
in  an  important  degree,  to  the  passage  of  the  existing  [jrovisions  of  the 


542  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

City  Charter  appointing  Special  Commissioners  to  complete  the  connection 
between  the  Lake  and  the  Illinois  River,  by  which  tlie  water  of  the  river 
can  be  kept  cleansed  and  pnrified  by  the  constant  infusion  of  fresh  water 
from  the  Lake,  and  also  in  the  establishment  of  the  very  stringent  and 
efficient  regulations  now  in  force  for  the  prevention  of  nuisances. 

Mr.  Larned,  although  he  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  all  that  pertains 
to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  has  often  addressed  public  meetings  on 
important  questions,  has  no  love  for  the  excitement  of  a  public  life,  and 
prefers  the  duties  and  honors  of  his  profession  to  political  preferment 
or  position  of  any  kind,  and  lias  invariably  declined  the  requests  of  his 
friends  for  him  to  become  a  candidate  for  diffi?rent  official  positions.  His 
tastes  are  for  the  quiet  and  refined  pleasures  of  private  life. 

Mr.  Larned  married,  in  September,  1849,  Frances  Greene,  daughter 
of  Hon.  A.  C.  Greene,  United  States  Senator  from  Rhode  Island,  in  whose 
office  he  commenced  the  study  of  law,  as  before  stated.  He  has  three 
children  living,  two  daughters,  and  a  son,  who  graduated  at  the  Chicago 
High  School  in  July,  1867,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  Freshman  Class 
at  Harvard  College.  ]\Ir.  Larned  has  erected  a  tasteful  and  pleasant 
residence  in  the  North  Division  of  the  city,  where  he  finds  in  reading  and 
study,  and  in  the  quiet  enjoyments  of  home  and  social  life  his  chief  and 
unfliiling  sources  of  happiness. 

Mr.  Larned  has  never  engaged  in  speculation  of  any  kind,  but  by 
unremitting  industry  and  attention  to  business,  and  by  judicious  invest- 
ments of  his  surplus  earnings  in  real  estate  at  an  early  date,  has  attained  a 
sufficient  property  to  place  himself  and  his  family  in  easy  and  independent 
circumstances. 

Mr.  Larned,  as  a  public  speaker,  is  bold,  impassioned,  and  earnest. 
This  latter  quality,  united  with  a  mind  of  great  logical  clearness  and 
thorough  classical  training,  accounts  for  his  undenied  power  with  juries 
and  popular  assemblies.  Following  the  example  of  some  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  of  his  profession,  as  well  as  the  dictates  of  a  strong  conscien- 
tiousness, it  has  ever  been  a  principle  with  Mr.  Larned  never  to  undertake 
a  cause  he  did  not  deem  just ;  and  when  thus  satisfied,  no  opposition  of 
official  position,  or  distinguished  opinion,  has  ever  deterred  him  from  the 
advocacy  of  the  right,  the  good  and  the  true,  with  an  ardent  eloquence 
and  devotion,  adopting  the  motto  of  the  philosophic  Seneca : 

"Multiim  magnorum  virorum  judicio  credo;   sed  vindica  meo." 


EDWIN  CHANNING  LARNED.  543 

Of  incorruptible  lioiicsty,  no  tcni})tations  of  aclvuntnge  or  blandish- 
ments of  power  have  ever  induced  him  to  resort,  for  even  temporary 
success,  to  the  arts  of  the  demagogue.  With  such  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Mr.  Larned  has  attained  a  position  of 
eminence  in  the  estimation  of  the  wise  and  good,  and  come  to  be  regarded, 
as  he  most  justly  is,  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  tiie  Northwest. 


LAURIN   PALMER  MILLIARD. 


Laueix  p.  Hilliard  was  born  in  Unadilla  Forks,  Otsego  County, 
Now  York.  His  father,  Isaiah  Hilliard,  Mas  left  an  orphan  when  quite 
youuH:,  and  removed  from  Connecticut  to  New  York  at  an  early  day, 
where  he  purchased  a  small  farm,  upon  which  he  has  resided  ever  since. 
His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  Palmer,  of  Bridgewater,  New 
York,  who,  also,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Hilliard's  education  was  such  as  could  be  obtained  at  a  district 
school  during  the  winter  months.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  attended 
Hamilton  Academy  for  one  year.  He  then  accepted  a  clerkship  in  a 
country  store,  where  he  remained  t\vo  years,  receiving  his  board  the 
first  year,  and  his  board  and  fifty  dollars  the  second  year.  One  of  the 
proprietors  then  proposed  to  him  to  go  into  business  on  joint  account. 
Tiie  proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  firm  name  became  Walker, 
Wilbur  &  Hilliard.  In  the  spring  of  1830,  ^NFr.  Hilliard  sold  out  his 
interest  and  came  to  Chicago,  arriving  here  early  in  May.  The  greater 
part  of  that  year  M'as  spent  in  traveling,  during  which  time  he  visited 
^Milwaukee,  Manitowoc,  and  Green  Bay,  all  of  which  places  were  in  their 
infancy.  He  finally  decided  that  Chicago  presented  the  most  favorable 
business  facilities,  and  accepted  a  clerkship  in  a  dry  goods  jobbing  house, 
which  position  he  filled  until  the  fidl  of  1839,  when  one  of  his  former 
partners  induced  him  to  take  an  interest  in  his  Chicago  store,  with  whom 
he  remained  until  the  spring  of  1845,  under  the  firm  name  of 
C.  Walker  &  Co.  During  his  connection  with  this  firm,  he  was  largely 
interested  in  the  purchase  and  shipment  of  everything  tiu"  country  had  for 
sale,  this  house  being  almost  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  shippers  of  this 
kind,  in  Cliicago.     As  the  surplus  increased,  there  was  a  large  demand 


546  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

for  vessels,  which  induced  JNIr.  Hilliard  and  his  partners  to  invest  in 
vessel  building,  which  they  did  to  a  considerable  extent,  considering  that 
the  mercantile  marine  of  Lake  Michigan  was  in  its  infancy. 

Mr.  Hilliard  was  married  August  8,  1843,  to  Mrs.  Maria  E.  Beaubien, 
daughter  of  John  Iv.  and  Elizabeth  Boyer,  who  emigrated  from  Pennsyl- 
vania to  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1833.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  is  two 
sons,  the  eldest  being  now  twelve  years  of  age.  In  1844,  Mr.  Hilliard 
was  elected  one  of  the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church,  the  same  having  been 
organized  two  years  previously,  and  has  been  identified  ever  since  with 
its  growth  and  prosperity. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Hilliard  was  always  a  Jackson  Democrat  until  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Comi)romiso,  when  he  became  identified  with  the 
Republican  party. 

After  the  dissolution  of  copartnership  under  the  firm  name  of 
C.  Walker  &  Co.,  Mr.  Hilliard  continued  the  buying  and  shipping  busi- 
ness, in  connection  with  his  vessel  interest,  until  the  fall  of  1849,  when 
his  store  was  burned,  which  induced  him  to  sell  off  what  goods  were  saved 
from  the  fire.  In  the  spring  following,  he  ^vent  into  the  lumber  trade,  in 
connection  with  his  vessel  interest,  in  which  lie  continued  until  the  autumn 
of  1861,  when  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Cook  County, 
which  position  he  filled  until  the  autunni  of  1865,  since  which  time  he  has 
not  been  in  active  business.  Mr.  Hilliard  has  been  more  or  less  connected 
with  the  various  societies  which  have  grown  up  in  Chicago,  such  as  the 
Young  Men's  Association,  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  others. 


DAVID  BLAKELEY. 


Hon.  Daa^d  Blakeley,  the  senior  proprietor  and  editor-in-chief 
of  the  "Chicago  Evening  Post/'  was  born  in  East  Berkshire,  Franklin 
County,  Vermont,  in  1834,  from  whence  the  family  emigrated  to  Syracuse, 
Xew  York,  in  1838.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  entered  tlie  printing 
office  of  the  "  Daily  Star,"  between  which  and  the  office  of  the  "Journal," 
he  thoroughly  mastered  the  mysteries  and  intricacies  of  the  typographic 
art.  His  apprenticeship  completed,  he  returned  to  Vermont,  and  devoted 
five  years  to  study.  Leaving  the  University  of  Vermont  in  1857,  he 
removed  to  Minnesota,  and  entered  upon  the  profession  of  journalism. 
Three  flourisliing  newspapers  in  that  young  and  vigorous  State  owe  their 
origin  and  success  to  Mr.  Blakeley,  and  attest  not  only  the  value  of 
natural  adaptation,  but  of  practical  experience  in  that  exacting  ])rofession. 
In  1860,  Mr.  Blakeley  was  elected  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Miiniesota 
House  of  Representatives,  to  Mhich  ofHce  he  was  re-elected  the  ensuing 
year.  He  was  then  appointed,  by  Governor  Ramsey,  Secretary  of  State 
and  Supcriutendent  of  Public  Instruction,  General  J.  H.  Baker,  the 
incumbent,  having  resigned  his  office  to  take  charge  of  a  regiment  of 
volunteers.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term,  he  was  returned  to  the  office 
by  popular  election.  During  his  three  years'  service  in  this  important 
capacity,  Mr.  Blakeley  contributed  largely  to  the  organization  of  the 
flourishing  common  school  system  of  Minnesota;  and,  as  cx-qtjiclo  Secre- 
tary of  the  Xormal  School  Board,  promotetl  the  establishment,  on  an 
enduring  basis,  of  the  excellent  system  of  normal  schools  for  which 
Minnesota  promises  to  become  distinguished. 

In    the   autumn   of   I860,   having,   with    iiis    brother,    Major  C.  H. 

Blakeley — also    a   practical    printer — puichased    the   "Chicago    Evening 

Post,"  he  resigned  his  office  and  took  the  editorial  charge  of  that  radical 

and  flourishing  paper,  in  which  poaitiou,  except  during  brief  intervals  of 

.absence,  he  has  since  remained. 


ALYIN  EPMOND  SMALL. 


The  State  of  IVraine,  which  comprises  nearly  half  the  surface  of  New 
England,  and,  until  1820,  formed  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  was  for  many 
years  the  "  out  West"  of  the  Yankees.  Tlie  same  pioneer  enterj)rise 
which  has  since  peopled  and  is  still  peopling  our  broad  prairies,  felled  the 
forests  and  tilled  the  rugged  soil  of  that  common wealtli.  Among  those 
who  subdued  the  wilds  of  Maine  were  Joseph  and  ]\[ary  Jackson  Small, 
At  an  early  day  they  settled  in  Wales,  Lincoln  County,  where  Alvin  E. 
Small,  M.  D.,  their  eighth  son,  was  born  on  the  4th  of  Marcli,  1811. 
The  family  consisted  of  ten  sons  and  five  daughters.  The  father  was  a 
man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability  and  influence,  both  in  politics  and 
religion.  For  several  years  lie  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature, 
and  was  frequently  placed  in  other  positions  of  lionor  and  responsibility. 

In  the  early  life  of  Dr.  Small  we  find  nothing  peculiar.  In  common 
with  otlier  New  England  children,  he  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  strict 
parental  discipline,  instruction  in  the  district  schools,  which  have  ever 
been  the  glory  and  tlie  strength  of  our  land,  and  thorougli  drill  in  the 
Westminster  Catechism,  once  the  household  Penates  of  Scot  and  Puritan 
parents,  and  tlie  bugbear  of  the  little  folks,  but  which  has  long  since  been 
banished  from  the  fireside  to  the  theological  library.  At  the  early  age  of 
sixteen,  he  was  far  enough  advanced  in  knowledge  of  the  English  branches 
of  learning,  and  had  sufficient  maturity  of  judgment,  to  become  the 
Principal  of  a  public  grammar  school.  After  fullilling  that  engagement, 
he  entered  Monmouth  Academy,  an  excellent  English  and  classical  school, 
where  he  remained  four  years.  He  proved  himself,  from  first  to  last,  a 
faithful  and  apt  student,  and  enjoyed  an  enviable  reputation,  both  with 
his  teachers  and  his  school-fellows. 


550  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

In  1831,  our  young  student  turned  liis  attention  to  the  study  of 
medicine.  For  some  time  lie  read  in  tlic  office  of  Dr.  Israel  Putnam. 
His  father  was  a  thrifty  farmer,  but  he  had  now  given  his  son  nearly 
all  the  aid  he  could,  in  justice  to  his  other  children,  afford  to  render 
him,  and,  consequently,  he  found  the  acquisition  of  his  professional 
education  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  difficulties.  Even  during  his 
academy  days  he  had  defrayed  no  small  proportion  of  his  expenses  by 
teaching  during  vacations,  and  serving,  part  of  the  time,  as  assistant  in 
the  academy.  To  relieve  himself  from  pecuniary  embarassment  during 
the  prosecution  of  his  studies,  he  accepted  the  position  of  Principal 
of  one  of  the  public  schools  of  Bath,  Mhich  position  he  occupied  for 
two  years.  In  the  meanwhile,  he  continued  his  studies  with  zeal 
under  the  instruction  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Randall,  afterwards  Member 
of  Congress. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  turned  his  exclusive  attention  to  the  study 
of  medicine,  for  which  purpose  he  removed  to  Saco,  in  the  same  State, 
where  for  two  years  he  was  the  private  pupil  of  Dr.  H.  B.  C.  Green, 
physician,  who  afterwards  rose  to  eminence  in  Boston.  Dr.  Green  had  at 
that  time  several  students  under  his  instruction,  to  whom  he  lectured  and 
gave  demonstrations  in  anatomy,  at  regular  times.  His  students  had 
excellent  op})ortunitics  to  become  thorough  anatomists,  and  familiar  with 
the  mechanical  part  of  surgery.  Dr.  Small  largely  attributes  his  pro- 
fessional success  to  the  superior  advantages  which  he  enjoyed  during  the 
two  years  he  spent  at  Saco.  He  l)ecame  well  versed  in  physiology, 
which  has  been  fitly  called  "the  poetry  of  human  organization."  His 
opportunities  for  clinical  observations,  in  private  and  dispensary  practice, 
were  rarely  excelled,  his  worthy  preceptor  being  a  master  of  the  medical 
science,  and  a  physician  of  wide  and  varied  practice. 

From  Saco  he  went  to  Portland,  where,  for  a  short  time,  he  acted  as 
apothecary  for  the  marine  hospital  in  that  city.  Thence  he  repaired  to 
Chelsea  Hospital,  near  Boston,  and  from  there  he  went,  after  a  brief  stay, 
to  Philadelphia,  where  he  spent  two  years  in  completing  his  professional 
studies.  He  at  once  joined  the  private  class  of  Professor  George  McLellan, 
an  eminent  surgeon  and  physician;  also,  the  private  anatomical  class 
of  Professor  Sanmel  George  Morton,  naturalist  and  author  of  "  Crance 
Americane,''  and  "Types  of  Mankind."  AVhile  under  the  direction  of 
Professors  McLellan  and  INIorton,  he  also  attended  two  full  courses 
of  lectures  in  the  medical  department  of  the  university  and  Pennsylvania 


I 


AI.yiN    EDMOND   SMALL.  551 

Collogo,  from  Avlii<'li  latter  institution   lie  received   his  diploma  us  Doetor 
of  IMcdicino. 

Shortly  after  graduation,  Dr.  Small  commenced  [)ractice  in  Delaware 
County,  Pennsylvania.  He  met  with  more  than  ordinary  success  as  a 
practitioner,  but  in  1845  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  soon  M'on 
a  high  standing  among  his  professional  brethren,  which  he  maintained 
with  ever-increasing  honor  during  the  eleven  years  he  ren)ained  in  that 
city.  In  connection  with  his  setllenuMit  in  l'hila(lelj)hia  as  a  practicing 
physician,  should  be  mentioned  his  conversion  from  allopathy  to 
homoeopathy. 

AVhcn  yet  a  student,  he  Avas  aware  of  the  progress  that  the  homeopathic 
school  was  making  in  some  of  the  hirge  cities  and  towns,  and  yet,  without 
the  remotest  idea  of  joining  this  sect,  he  felt  an  irresistible  inclination  to 
examine  into  its  claims.  In  due  time  he  gave  the  subject  a  fair  and 
thorough  examination,  without  being  influenced  by  those  who  enthusias- 
tically espoused  the  system  on  the  one  hand,  or  by  those  who  condemned 
it  without  any  abatement  on  the  other,  and  the  result  was  a  conviction 
of  the  truth  of  homoeopathy  and  a  readiness  to  embrace  it.  But,  in  doing 
so,  he  did  not  feel  that  he  had  lost,  or  Avas  called  upon  to  part  with 
anything  valuable  he  had  learned  during  pupilage;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
he  felt  as  if  he  was  adding  fresh  value  to  his  stock  of  knowledge.  He  did 
not  regret  that  he  had  spent  so  much  time  in  attending  medical  lectures, 
in  medical  schools  and  hospitals.  He  did  not  regret  having  been  educated 
in  the  intricacies  of  poly-pharmacy,  and  the  entire  details  of  the  prevailing 
practice.  There  is  much  that  is  valuable  in  all,  and  the  fact  must  be 
known,  in  order  to  make  it  serve  for  advancement. 

In  1849,  Dr.  Small  was  appointed  First  Professor  of  Physiology  and 
Pathology  in  the  -Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania — a  ])ost 
which  he  filled  with  ability,  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  profession. 
In  1853,  he  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Institutes  and  Practice  in  the  same 
institution.  His  resignation  was  reluctantly  received  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  in  1857. 

While  discharging  the  duties  connected  with  the  professorship  in  the 
Homoeopathic  INIedical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  he  was,  for  two  years, 
attending,  and  two  years  consulting,  physician  of  the  hospital  in  Chestnut 
Street,  near  the  Schuylkill,  since  removed  into  Filbert  street,  near  Twelfth. 
Dr.  Small's  Philadelphia  reputation  was  that  of  being  an  industrious 
student,  a  ripe  scholar,  and  an  able  and  fluent  lecturer  upon  any  branch 


552  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  the  medical  Gurriculum.  In  1851,  Delaware  College  gave  him  the 
decree  of  INIaster  of  Arts.  Not  content  with  the  regnlar,  daily  duties  of 
his  practice  and  his  professorship,  he  became  extensively  known  as  a 
writer  upon  medical  subjects.  He  edited  chiefly,  and  with  great  ability, 
four  octavo  volumes  of  the  "Philadelphia  Journal,"  M'hich  was  regarded 
with  considerable  favor,  both  in  this  co.untry  and  Europe.  He  has  written 
several  monographs  that  have  been  reprinted  in  foreign  journals,  and  is 
the  author  of  a  Manual  of  Homoeopathic  Practice,  both  in  the  English 
and  German  languages,  of  840  pages,  which  has  already  undergone  thirteen 
editions.  He  also  wrote  a  Avork  on  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System,  which 
had  a  wide  circulation,  until  out  of  print.  He  also  edited,  with  notes, 
"Morgan  on  Indigestion,  Constipation  and  Hemorrhoids,"  an  exceedingly 
practical  work. 

Tired  of  the  humdrum  and  stagnation  of  "  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love," 
Dr.  Small  determined,  in  1856,  to  remove  to  Chicago.  Here  he  took  the 
practice  of  Dr.  D.  S.  Smith,  who  removed  at  that  time  to  Waukegan. 
Since  that  time  he  has  been  mainly  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  profession. 
But  he  was  not  long  left  undisturbed  in  his  practice.  He  was  soon  called 
to  serve  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  as  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice, 
until  1865.  He  now  occupies  the  same  chair  as  Emeritus  Professor.  He 
has  from  the  first  been  Dean  of  this  institution.  His  practice  is  very 
large,  and  he  has  rarely  left  the  scene  of  his  labors  for  even  a  brief  respite. 
He  visited  Europe  in  1865,  and  was  then  absent  several  months.  This 
was  his  longest  release  from  care  and  toil  since  entering  upon  the  duties 
of  his  profession,  nearly  thirty  years  ago. 

Dr,  Small  was  married,  in  1834,  to  Miss  INIartha  Mary  Sloan,  of  Bath, 
Maine.  They  have  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Although 
nurtured  in  the  hyper-Calvinistic  faith,  he  is  a  member  of  the  New 
Church  (Swedenborgian),  and  has  been  for  more  than  thirty  years.  His 
entire  family  jjrofess  the  same  faith.  Mild  and  amiable  in  deportment, 
cheerful  in  demeanor,  and  liberal  in  his  views  and  relations,  he  is  free 
from  all  sectarianism.  Intelligent,  and  positive  in  all  his  theological 
convictions,  he  has  never  obtruded  his  opinions  upon  others,  but  always 
given  his  unremitting  attention  to  his  professional  duties,  in  the  discharge 
of  which  he  never  shuns  any  necessary  exposure  to  appalling  epidemics  or 
fatal  diseases. 


JOSEPH  M.  DAKE. 


Rarely  docs  the  pea  of  the  biographer,  groping  among  musty 
manuscripts  and  eager  to  shed  light  upon  the  unfatliomablc  that  too 
frequently  obtrudes  itself,  find  material  so  plentiful,  or  a  task  as  pleasant, 
as  the  present  instance  affords.  The  subject  of  this  brief  sketch  is  a 
self-made  man — a  man  endowed  with  the  spirit  of  the  Phconix,  springing 
into  a  new  and  better  life  after  each  successive  financial  death — a  sala- 
mander that  has  passed  through  the  hottest  fires,  emerging  with  renewed 
strength  and  purpose,  Avilling  to  grapple  with  the  world,  and  able  to 
force  a  victory  out  of  every  defeat. 

That  man  who,  cast  adrift  upon  the  treacherous  waves  of  fortune  at 
an  early  age,  and  in  a  mere  cockle-shell  boat,  after  repeated  disasters, 
brings  his  craft  and  himself  safely  into  port,  will  be  certain  to  profit  by 
dearly-bought  experience,  and  such  experience  as  no  other  school  could 
furnish.  For  the  man  who,  after  investing  his  worldly  all  in  what  proves 
to  be  a  dead  loss,  goes  resolutely  to  work,  fails  again,  and  then  gives  his 
last  one  hundred  dollars  to  the  volunteer  war-fund,  we  have  an  admi- 
ration bordering  upon  veneration.  There  is  a  fund  of  hope  in  such  a 
man,  shining  clear  and  bright  as  the  noonday  sun,  that  no  clouds  can 
obscure.  In  such  an  act  there  is  contained  a  biography  in  itself,  lacking 
nothing  to  render  it  complete  to  the  minds  of  students  of  human  nature. 
A  graphic  picture  of  patriotic  philanthropy;  a  chapter  on  self-abnega- 
tion; a  eulogy  on  sublime  indifference  to  present  needs,  and  a  hopeful 
self-consciousness  as  to  the  future. 

And  this  is  but  a  faint  outline  of  the  experience  and  character  of 
Joseph  M.  Dake,  the  most  unfortunate,  and  the  most  fortunate,  business 
man  that  we  know. 

Mr.  Dake   was  born    in   Greenfield,  Saratoga   County,   New   York, 


554  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

November  21,  1817,  and,  to  all  appearances,  is  yet  in  the  prime  of  his 
physical  and  mental  faculties.  His  parents  were  Calvin  W.  and  Harriet 
Dake.  His  father  was  a  direct  descendant  of  Etiian  Allen,  of  Kcvolu- 
tionary  fame,  who  captured  forts  "in  the  name  t^f  the  great  Jeliovah 
and  the  Continental  Congress."  His  mother  was  of  English-Connecticut 
descent,  a  woman  of  fervent  piety  and  very  warm  maternal  instincts. 
The  surroundings  of  the  old  homestead  did  not  differ  from  those  of  any 
other  New  York  or  JSTew  England  fariti-house  of  that  class  among  M-hich 
unremunerative  labor  was  the  chief  characteristic.  Here,  then,  com- 
menced the  life  of  Joseph  M.  Dake,  whose  childhood  exhibited  no  other 
peculiarity  than  a  love  of  study  and  reading.  Indeed,  to  this  latter 
source  is  he  mainly  indebted  for  his  education,  his  regular  scholastic 
course  having  been  comprised  in  the  customary  irregularities  of  the  "com- 
monest of  the  common  schools,  and  a  couple  of  brief  terms  in  the 
Amsterdam  Academy.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  the  pupil  became  a 
teacher,  and  for  three  years  he  successfully  wielded  the  ferule  and  the 
birch  in  district  schools.  For  six  years  the  youthful  Dake  burned  char- 
coal on  his  father's  farm,  and  carted  it  twice  or  three  times  a  Avcek  to 
Schenectady,  distant  twenty-five  miles — invariably  going  and  returning  in 
the  night — where  he  peddled  it  about  the  streets.  In  that  six  years  he 
paid  for  his  father's  farm  and  the  improvements  thereou,  and  then  struck 
out  for  himself  in  a  merciintile  line,  at  Page's  Corners.  Two  years  there, 
and  two  more  at  Saratoga  Springs,  convinced  Joseph  that  merchandising 
in  the  country  was  not  his  forte,  and  he  ^ssayed  farming  on  his  own 
account.  Five  years  of  hard  labor  found  him,  at  the  expiration  thereof, 
no  better  off,  pecuniarily,  than  when  he  commenced,  and,  converting 
everything  into  cash,  he  went  to  Chicago,  in  the  spring  of  1858,  where 
he  arrived  with  the  sum  total  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  This  he 
loaned,  taking  as  security  a  mortgage  upon  a  brick  building  now  standing 
on  the  south  side  of  Eandoli)li  street,  between  Dearborn  and  State  streets. 
The  security  being  deemed  worthless  at  that  time,  he  abandoned  it,  and 
lost  his  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  The  property  is  worth  more  than 
ten  times  that  amount  to-day. 

Many  readers  of  this  sketch  will  remember,  with  a  smile,  a  speculative 
bubble  that  rose  and  fell  in  1358,  regarding  the  paper  city  of  New 
London,  Wisconsin,  at  the  "  head  of  navigation  on  Wolf  River."  Specu- 
lation in  corner  lots  and  business  lots  in  that  embryo  city  became  a  mania. 
The  village  of  Waukegan,   a  few   miles   north   of  Chicago,   was   nearly 


JOSEIMI    M.    DAKE,  555 

(Icpopuhitecl  by  the  sudden  tide  »)1"  ('migration  that  flowed  towards  "the 
head  of  navigation  on  Wolf  River."  Mr.  Dake,  becoming  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  the  thing,  purcha.setl  lots  to  the  supposed  value  ol"  five 
hundred  dollars,  and  then  went  to  New  London  to  metre  fully  investigate 
tlu>  matter.  lie  found  the  "city"  staked  ofi'  according  to  the  most 
approved  method,  but  the  city  had  no  existence,  except  on  paper.  He 
was  thoroughly  disgusted,  being  convinced  by  his  judgment  that  the 
sjK'Culative  mania,  so  far  as  the  city  of  New  London  %as  concerned,  was 
a  bubble  of  the  most  explosive  character. 

Right  here  Mr.  Dake  gave  evidence  of  the  possession  of  those 
remarkable  financial  abilities  wliich  were  destined  to  transform  the  char- 
coal jieddler  into  the  greatest  baker  in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the 
world,  and  counting  his  wealth  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 
Instead  of  selling  out  at  a  sacrifice,  as  most  men,  similarly  situated,  would 
have  done,  he  went  to  the  Land  Office -and  purchased  more  lots  in  the 
paper  city,  and  returned  to  Waukegan,  Avlifirg  he  was  besieged  by  scores 
who  knew  that  he  had  been  to  New  London  td^see  things  for  himself. 
He  drove  them  crazy  by  exhibiting  his  papers  covei'ing  the  new  sales, 
and  sold  back  to  the  individual  from  whom  he  had  purchased  the  five 
hundred  dollar  tract,  one-half  of  it  for  the  sum  which  he  paid  for  the 
whole.     He  also  disposed  of  his  ne\v  purchases^^it  advanced  figures. 

His  subsequent  experience  in  Chicago  was  .varied  and  interesting. 
Working  for  some  time  at  a  salary  of  twelve  ctollai-s  jter  Meek,  he  next 
essayed  dealing  in  provisions  in  a  small  way.  Making  nothing  in  that 
line,  he  became  a  partner  in  Kendall's  bakery.  He  found,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  a  year,  that  heliad  lotit  everything  ex^pt  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
that  sum  he  subscribed  and  paid  at  a  war  meeti^  in  Metropolitan  Hall. 

From  that  moment,  however,  the  tide  had  turned.  The  war  of  the 
rebellion  created  a  heavy  demand  for  bread.  The  vast  armies,  called 
suddenly  into  the  field,  must  be  fed,  and  the  bakeries  of  all  the  j)rincipal 
cities  were  taxed  to  their  utmost.  Bread  flowed  out,  only  to  return  in  a 
stream  of  gold.  Paraphrased,  the  inspired  promise  would  literally  read: 
"Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  Government,  and  gold  shall  be  seen  for  it  ere 
many  days."  In  three  years  the  establishment,  of  which  Mr.  Dake  owned 
a  one-third  interest,  netted  a  profit  of  one  hrindred  thousand  dollars. 

At  this  juncture  Mr.  Dakc^rctired  from  the  concern  and  built  for 
himself,  immediately  in  the  rear  of  MoVickor's  Theatre,  the  largest  and 
most  completely  equipped  bakery  in  the  United  States. 


556  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Always  on  the  watch  for  something  new,  Mr.  Dake  has  purchased 
patents  for  the  manufacture  of  aerated  bread  and  crackers,  at  a  cost  of 
more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  owns  the  exclusive  right  to  manu- 
facture jerated  bread  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  owns  the  patent  covering 
jerated  crackers  in  all  of  the  Northwestern  States,  commencing  with 
Michio-an.  For  three  years  a  rival  firm  contested  Mr.  Dake's  exclusive 
privilege  to  manufacture  rerated  bread,  and  this  tedious  litigation  has 
resulted  in  a  decree  enjoining  the  former  and  awarding  damages  to  the 
latter.  Having  the  field  clear  to  himself,  Mr.  Dake  is  making  the  most 
of  it,  by  driving  his  immense  bakery  to  the  extent  of  its  capacity,  night 
and  day.  His  sales  during  the  year  1867,  just  closed,  amounted  to  nearly 
a  million  of  dollars.  The  average  daily  consumption  of  his  establishment 
is  one  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of  flour — three  times  the  quantity  manu- 
fictured  in  any  other  bakery  in  the  country.  His  trade  extends  east^vard 
to  Philadelphia,  south  to  New  Orleans,  north  to  the  extremest  Govern- 
ment post,  and  Avest  as  flir  as  communications  are  known.  If  he  has  not 
already  reached  the  summit  of  his  ambition,  wliich  is  to  become  the 
greatest  baker  in  the  world,  he  certainly  is  not  far  from  the  goal.  If  he 
is  equaled  or  surpassed  in  the  magnitude  of  his  operations,  it  is  only  by 
some  establishment  under  the  auspices  of  European  governments.  And 
even  this  possibility  must  vanish,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Dake  has 
nearly  completed  a  bakery  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  of  equal  capacity 
with  his  Chicago  establishment.  He  has  upwards  of  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  invested  in  his  business,  all  of  which  he  has  made  Mithiu 
the  last  five  years. 

INIr.  Dake  was  married  in  January,  1843,  to  Mary  Elizabeth  Page, 
daughter  of  John  Page,  Esq.,  of  Greenfield,  Saratoga  County,  Xew  York. 
The  fruit  of  that  union  was  two  daughters,  one  of  whom  is  still  living. 

In  religious  matters,  J\Ir.  Dake  is  liberal  in  his  views  and  belief  He 
is  an  active  and  esteemed  member  of  St.  Paul's  (Universal ist)  Church  in 
Chicago,  and  takes  just  pride  in  having  been  one  of  the  originators  and 
promoters  of  the  Chicago  Christian  Union,  a  high-toned  and  benevolent 
religious  institution. 

Socially,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  occupies  an  enviable  position.  In 
the  sacred  precincts  of  the  home  circle  are  centered  his  happiness  and  his 
affections,  while  around  it  cluster  many  of  the  brightest  and  warmest 
friendships  that  ever  contributed  to  human  ha})piness. 

An  evidence  of  this  was  furnished  a  few  days  ago,  when  his  "  Silver 


JOSEPH    M.   DAKE.  557 

Wedding"  Avtus  celebrated,  on  the  IStli  of  Jaiiuarv,  1868,  at  lils  beautiful 
residence  on  Michigan  avenue,  in  a  style  of  elegance  and  general  com- 
pleteness rarely  equaletl.  On  that  occasion  presents  were  made  cxceeiling 
in  valne  ten  thousand  dollars,  as  follows: 

From  G.  Kilmer,  Esq.,  Saratoga,  New  York,  a  large  salver;  set  of  soup  ladles;  small 
salver;  teakettle;  coffeepot;  teapot;  sugar  bowl;  milk  pitcher;  soup  bowl;  assorted 
tea  set — three  pieces;  two  salts  and  spoons.  Mrs.  C.  Kilmer,  a  water  pitcher.  Mr.  John 
A.  Dake,  Louisville,  Kentucky,  soup  tureen  ;  butter  dish,  with  knives ;  ice  bout,  with 
tongs  ;  call  bell.  Mrs.  John  A.  Dake,  fruit  disli,  with  spoons.  Miss  Mattie  Dake,  jelly 
dish,  with  spoons.  Miss  Florence  K.  Dake,  porcupine  toothpick  holder.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Emigh,  Chicago,  vase.  Mr.  Dake's  father  and  mother,  portmonnaie  and  two  goblet?.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  David  Richards,  Chicago,  set  tea  spoons.  Mrs.  0.  D.  Howard,  Chicago,  pair 
vases.  Miss  Sarah  E.  Dake,  Chicago,  elegant  canl  case.  Charles  Tobey,  Esq.,  half 
dozen  large  spoons.  "  A  Friend,"  Chicago,  one  dozen  nut-pickers  and  case  individual 
salts  and  butters.  James  Gilbert,  Chicago,  two  dessert  spoons.  Mrs.  ^l.  W.  Dake, 
Chicago,  pie  knife.  Employes  of  Mr.  Dake's  bakery,  a  large  ice  pitcher,  goblets  and 
salver  ;  castor,  case  containing  twelve  knives  and  forks,  two  dozen  large  spoons.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  AVoodbury,  Chicago,  fruit  spoon.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boone,  egg  boiler,  an  elegant 
and  unique  affair.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  H.  Reese,  Chicago,  pair  of  napkin  rings.  Mr. 
Van  Wick,  pair  vases.  C.  L.  Woodman,  Esq.,  syrup  cup  and  dish.  Alderman  Cox,  silver 
imitation  of  a  loaf  of  "aerated"  bread,  of  which  Mr.  Dake  is  the  patentee.  Mr.  High  wood, 
Chicago,  bakers'  silver  "peel,"  with  golden  crackers.  Clerks  at  Woodman's  bakery,  fish 
knife  and  fork. 

The  presents  given  by  Mr.  Kilmer  cost  $2,500;  those  by  Mr.  John  A.  Dake,  $1,500, 
and  those  by  the  employes  of  Mr.  Dake,  $1,000. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  our  biographical  sketch  of  Joseph  M.  Dake,  simply 
and  truthfully  expressed.  We  can  but  regard  him  as  being  one  of  the 
best  and  truest  types  of  the  self-made  men  of  America.  His  courage  in 
the  darkest  hour  of  adversity,  his  unconquerable  determination  to  succeed 
in  the  fiice  of  repeated  reverses  sufficient  to  dishearten  the  boldest  spirit, 
and,  above  all,  his  sublime  confidence  and  hope  in  him.self  and  the  future, 
are  characteristics  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  few  mortals. 


11.  AV.  rATTERSOX. 


Ix  1842,  tlie  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago  was  oroanized. 
It  consisted,  originally,  of"  twenty-six  nieniber.s.  One  year  before,  Robert 
AVilson  Patterson,  then  a  student  in  I^ane  (Cincinnati)  Tlieological 
Seminary,  had  preached  for  a  few  months  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  this  city,  and  he  was  remembered  so  favorably  that  the  new 
organization  gave  him  a  call  to  become  its  pastor.  The  invitation  was 
accepted,  to  take  effect  upon  graduation.  The  pastorate  then  commenced, 
still  continues.  From  that  small  beginning,  the  church  has  gone  on  until 
it  now  numbers  more  than  four  hundred  souls,  although  no  less  than  five 
"colonies"  have,  at  different  times,  detached  themselves  from  it  and 
become  distinct  churches.  Until  quite  recently  it  could  boast  of  having 
contributed  more  to  the  various  objects  of  Christian  charity,  than  all  the 
other  churches  of  its  denomination  in  Northern  Illinois.  There  can  cer- 
tainly be  but  few  men  more  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  volume  than  the  first 
and  only  pastor  of  such  a  church,  who  is,  in  point  of  residence,  the  oldest 
ofliciating  clergyman  in  Chicago  by  nearly  fifteen  years. 

Robert  AVilsox  Patteesox  was  born  January  21,  1814,  near 
Marysville,  East  Tennessee.  His  father,  Alexander  Patterson,  and  his 
mother,  Sarah  E.  Stevenson,  were  both  natives  of  South  Carolina.  His 
ancestors,  on  both  sides,  were  a  long  line  of  Scotch  Presbyterians,  who 
held  their  faith  through  a  century  of  jjersecution,  and  finally  took  refuge 
in  this  country,  that  they  might  enjoy  the  freedom  of  thought  and  liberty 
of  conscience  that  it  offered  them. 

The  father,  fearing  the  influence  of  slavery  upon  his  children,  emigrated 
to  Illinois  in  1824,  six  years  after  the  State  had  been  admitted  into  the 
Union,  with  a  coustitutiou  forever  prohibiting  slavery.     Soon  after  the 


560  BIOGKAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

removal  his  father  died,  leaving  a  large  family  dependent  upon  the  care 
of  the  mother,  a  woman  of  great  energy  and  remarkable  acquirements. 

Eobert  remained  ui)on  his  mother's  farm  until  eighteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  entered  Illinois  College,  for  which  he  had  been  prepared 
principally  by  his  mother.  Dr.  Edward  Beecher  was  President  of  the 
institution  at  that  time.  His  object  from  early  boyhood'  had  been  to 
become  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  he  never  for  a  moment  swerved  from 
his  high  purpose. 

Having  completed  his  collegiate  course,  Ire  entered  Lane  Theological 
Seminary.  He  pursued  his  theological  studies  under  such  men  as  Pro- 
fessor Stowc  and  Dr.  Lyman  Beechoi-,  then  at  the  meridian  of  his  strength. 
During  these  days  of  student  life  he  developed  a  taste  or  talent  for  music, 
for  which  he  had  inherited  from  his  mother  a  remarkable  passion.  He 
spent  one  whole  vacation  of  two  months  with  his  friend,  Charles  Beecher, 
playing  upon  the  violin,  exhausting  the  entire  stock  of  nuisic  within  their 
reach.  But  with  all  his  love  of  music,  young  Patterson  was  an  indefa- 
tigable student,  and  such,  indeed,  he  is  to  this  day.  During  all  his  long 
and  laborious  pastorate,  he  has  maintained  an  intimate  acquaintance,  not 
only  with  current  literature  and  events,  but  with  the  ever  progressive 
sciences  and  the  classics.  He  is  one  of  the  most  varied  and  accurate 
scholars  in  the  West. 

After  he  had  been  in  Chicago  about  twelve  years.  Dr.  Patterson  was 
called  to  the  chair  of  didactic  theology,  in  Lane  Seminary,  as  the  successor 
of  Lyman  Beecher.  This  he  decided,  without  the  ilourisli  of  ecclesiastical 
consultation,  to  decline.  Nine  years  later,  1859,  he  was  chosen  Moderator 
of  the  General  Asseml)ly  of  the  New  School  Presbyterian  Church.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  recent  Conference,  composed  of  delegates  from  the 
two  great  branches,  or  "Schools,"  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  met 
in  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  devising  a  plan  of  union.  The  articles 
of  agreement,  unanimously  adopted,  Avere  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Patterson. 
These  were  ratified  by  the  succeeding  General .  Assembly  of  the  New 
School  Church,  but  not  by  that  of  the  other  branch.  When,  if  ever,  the 
two  get  together,  it  will  doubtless  be  upon,  essentially,  the  Patterson 
platform. 

As  a  preacher,  Dr.  Patterson  is  doctrinal,  but  not  controversial.  He 
holds  the  tenets  of  the  Presbyterian  Confession  of  Faith  in  their  strictly 
"orthodox"  interpretation,  and  enforces  them  with  the  eloquence  of  sound 
logic  and   earnest  piety.     As  a  pastor  he   is   very"  attentive  to   all   the 


K.    W.    PATTERSON.  561 

members  of  his  congregation,  but  more  espec-ially  to  the  side  and  the 
distressed.  Altlioiigii  a  man  of  letters,  and  burdened  with  the  pastoral 
care  of  a  great  church,  he  takes  a  lively  interest  In  all  matters  that  concern 
the  general  welfare  of  the  public. 


I 


HENRY  B.  BRYANT. 


H.  B.  Bryant,  the  man  wlioso  genius  conceived  and  perfected  the 
grand  scheme  of  a  chain  of  international  Commercial  Colleges,  was  born 
in  England,  near  the  city  of  Gloucester,  April  5,  1824.  His  father  was  a 
tarmer,  whose  experience  realized  the  prayer  of  Agnr,  tlie  son  of  Jakeli — 
"Give  mo  neither  poverty  nor  riches."  The  family  consisted,  besides  the 
parents,  of  six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  Professor  Brvant 
being  the  youngest  son,  and  the  wife  of  the  late  H.  D.  Stratton,  witli 
wliom  his  own  name  is  inseparably  linked,  being  the  youngest  daughter. 
His  mother  Mas  not  only  a  model  wife  and  mother,  but  a  woman  of 
extraordinary  business  cai)acity.  Sprung  from  a  race  of  merchants,  or 
shop-keepers,  she  was  instinct  with  that  strong  and  almost  intuitive  sense 
which  is  the  secret  of  honest  wealth. 

In  1828,  the  Bryant  family,  attracted  by  the  glowing  accounts  given 
of  this  I-'.}  Dorado,  immigrated  to  America.  Leaving  old  England  in  the 
bleak  month  of  November,  they  landed,  after  a  rough  voyage  of  six 
weeks,  at  New  York.  From  there  they  went  at  once  to  Pliiladelphia, 
where  they  remained  during  the  winter.  With  the  opening  of  sj)ring, 
they  removed  to  what  was  then  "way  out  West,  in  Ohio,''  settling  in 
Amherst,  Lorain  County.  The  family  continued  to  reside  there  until 
all  the  children  came  to  liave  homes  of  their  own. 

The  childhood  of  Mr.  Bryant  did  not  differ  materially  in  its  sm-round- 
ings  and  outworkings  from  that  of  the  class  to  whicii  he  belonged. 
During  tlie  season  of  labor,  he  workeil  nn  the  farm  industriously,  yet  not 
very  enthusiastically,  and  in  the  winter  attended  the  district  scliool.  It 
was  in  the  school-room,  more  than  anywiiere  else,  that  he  seemed  in  his 
native  element.     A  faithful  worker  and  a  merry  playfellow,  lie  found   his 


564  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

chief  delight  in  books.  His  love  for  study  and  reading  amounted  to  a 
passion,  and  every  opportunity  to  gain  knowledge  was  eagerly  improved. 
Having  early  mastered  the  studies  taught  in  the  common  school,  he  entered 
the  flourisliing  seminary  at  Norwalk,  Ohio,  then  under  the  Presidency  of 
Rev.  Edward  Thompson,  assisted  by  a  full  corps  of  excellent  instructors. 

When  hardly  more  than  a  mere  lad,  Mr.  Bryant  began  his  career  as  a 
teacher.  For  several  years,  he  taught  winters,  using  his  earnings  to  pay 
his  way  in  the  seminary.  He  became  famous  in  that  region  for  his  rare 
ability  to  manage  the  most  difficult  schools,  and  his  services  were  in  great 
demand.  He  had  the  happy  faculty  of  being  complete  "  master  of  the 
situation"  without  resort  to  severe  measures.  In  1840,  he  gave  up 
teaching  for  a  short  time,  and  entered  a  store  as  clerk.  He  remained 
there  until  he  became  thoroughly  familiar  with  all  parts  of  the  business. 
Exposed,  though  he  was,  to  great  temptations,  such  as  usually  beset  the 
path  of  youth,  surrounded  by  immoral  companions,  he  always  j)i'eserved 
his  purity  of  heart,  integrity  of  purpose,  fidelity  and  independence.  The 
soul  of  honor,  he  was  true,  not  only  to  his  friends,  but  to  all  his  con- 
victions of  duty. 

Leaving  the  store,  we  next  find  Mr.  Bryant  a  student  in  Cleveland 
University,  of  which  Rev.  Asa  Mahan,  D.  D.,  formerly  President  of 
Oberlin  College,  and  now  of  Adrian  University,  was  President.  He 
remained  tliere  several  terms,  taking  high  rank  among  his  fellows.  From 
the  University  he  passed  to  the  Business  College,  in  the  same  city,  in 
which  he  took  a  complete  commercial  course,  under  the  direction  of 
E.  P.  Goodnough.  He  had  now  finished  his  student  days,  and  was 
prepared  to  enter  the  manly  list  as  a  contestant  for  the  honors  and  sub- 
stantial rewards  of  wisely  directed  labor.  His  lather  would  gladly  have 
made  a  farmer  of  him,  for  he  had  been  taught  to  believe,  and  really 
supposed,  that  husbandry  was  the  only  field  for  honest  toil.  The  son  had 
a  no  less  exalted  opinion  of  honesty  as  a  virtue  to  be  practiced,  but  his 
more  extended  acquaintance  with  the  world  had  taught  him  that  integrity 
and  honor  are  not  peculiar  to  any  business  or  profession,  but  are  dependent 
rather  upon  character  than  employment.  And,  having  inherited  more  of 
his  mother's  business  talents  than  his  father's  partiality  for  the  soil,  he 
entered  a  commission  and  forwarding  house.  Here  his  duties  were  to 
keep  the  books  of  the  concern. 

On  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Goodnough  from  the  management  of  the 
Cleveland  Business  College,  Mr.  Bryant  was  chosen  to  fill  his  place,  a 


HENRY   B.   BRYANT.  565 

position  of  great  responsibility,  and  la  wliifh  all  his  iaciilties  found  free 
scope,  and  all  his  knowledge,  whetiier  derived  from  books  or  in  the  school 
of  experience,  was  brought  into  active  requisition.  Under  his  control,  the 
college  was  eminently  successful.  Mr.  E.  G.  Folsoni,  the  proprietor,  spent 
an  hour  or  two  each  day  at  the  rooms,  but  being  at  that  time  engaged 
in  the  public  schools  of  the  city,  the  main  burden  of  responsibility 
rested  upon  Mr.  Bryant.  It  was  during  this  period  that  Mr.  Stratton 
entered  the  commercial  school  as  a  student,  a  gentleman  who  was 
afterwards  to  be  doubly  his  brother-iii-law,  and  partner  in  the  grand 
enterprise  which  gave  to  them  both  an  enviable  national  reputation.  Mr. 
Stratton  had  been  engaged  in  the  insurance  business,  but  left  it  to  take  a 
commercial  course.  In  the  year  1855,  they  devised  and  inaugurated  their 
magnificent  enterprise.  Conceiving  the  idea  of  a  Commercial  College 
upon  a  larger  and  more  efficient  scale  than  any  that  then  existed,  they,  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  James  W.  Lusk,  became  proprietors  of  the  insti- 
tution, fitted  up  a  larger  suite  of  rooms,  and  in  a  style  far  more  attractive 
and  appropriate  than  could  be  found  in  any  other  similar  institution  in 
the  country.  The  faculty  was  composed  of  tiic  best  teachers  to  be  found 
anywhere.  P.  K.  Spencer,  the  author  of  the  celebrated  Spencerian  system 
of  chirography,  was  engaged  to  take  charge  of  the  writing  department. 
His  daughter,  ]Miss  Sarah  Spencer,  a  most  accomplished  lady  and  ai)t 
teacher,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  ladies'  classes.  Mr.  Lusk  was  also 
a  very  superior  penman.  The  three  partners  happily  combined  the  quali- 
fications necessary  to  insure  prosperity  to  the  enterprise.  The  institution 
proved  a  great  success  in  all  respects.  Its  reputation  extended  far  and 
near,  embraeing  many  States. 

So  admirably  did  tliis  triumvirate  snpply  an  important  and  much- 
neglected  educational  demand,  that  a})plications  were  made  to  them  to 
establish  similar  institutions  in  other  cities,  and  tliose  applications  being 
in  harmony  with  their  far-reaching  plans,  Ix'canie  the  occasion  of  that 
wondrous  chain  of  Business  Colleges  which,  extending  through  many 
States,  and  even  into  Canada,  numbers  in  it-^  links  more  than  forty  insti- 
tutions of  commercial  learning. 

Soon  after  the  firm  of  Bryant,  Stratton  &  Lusk  was  formed,  a  closer 
and  more  hallowed  union  wa.s  perfected.  On  the  29th  of  May,  1855, 
President  Charles  G.  Finney,  of  Oberlin  College,  united  in  the  bonds 
of  wedlock  Mr.  Henry  B.  Bryant  and  Miss  Lucy  A.  Stratton;  also,  at 
the  same  time  and  the  same  jilacc  (Amherst,  Ohio),  Mr.  IT.  D.  Stratton 


566  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

and  Miss  Pamela  C.  Bryant,  only  two  flimilies  being  represented  in  that 
double  wedding. 

Early  in  1856,  Mr.  Bryant  left  Cleveland  to  take  charge  of  the  Com- 
mercial College  at  Buffalo.  This  he  soon  brought  from  a  very  low  ebb 
to  a  condition  of  prosperity  no  less  eminent  than  that  occupied  by  the 
Cleveland  institution.  He  remained  there  only  t\vo  years,  ^vhen  he 
removed  to  New  York,  there  to  take  charge  of  the  founding  of  an  insti- 
tution for  business  instruction  in  Cooper  Institute,  and  also  to  publish  a 
mao-azine  entitled  ''The  American  Merchant."  The  magazine  proved  a 
marked  success  until  the  rebellion  came,  when  its  discontinuance  became 
necessary.  About  the  same  time,  the  publication,  under  his  charge,  of  a 
series  of  text-books  specially  adapted  to  the  wants  of  a  business  college 
was  commenced.  The  institution  which  he  formed  numbered  among  its 
lecturers  such  eminent  men  as  Hon.  Horace  Mann  and  Elihu  Burritt. 
Mr.  Peter  Cooper  also  rendered  much  assistance  in  the  work  of  estab- 
lishing the  New  York  college,  and  in  the  publication  of  the  magazine, 
the  editor  of  which  was  S.  S.  Packard.  The  two — the  magazine  and  the 
college — were  so  mutually  helpful  that  tlie  establishment  of  a  Commercial 
College  and  of  a  newspaper  became  parts  of  the  same  enterprise,  so  that 
in  due  course  of  time  the  Bryant  &  Stratton  Commercial  College  Chain 
included  forty-eight  institutions  for  business  education,  and  as  many 
newspapers  devoted  to  the  same  cause,  and  published  as  the  oi'gans  of 
their  respective  colleges.  To  give  an  idea  of  this  journalistic  and 
educational  combination,  and,  incidentally,  of  the  marvelous  growth  of 
the  Bryant  &  Stratton  system,  we  give  the  following  extract  from  an 
editorial  in  "The  Keystone,"  a  journal  representing  the  Pennsylvania 
College  of  Trade  and  Finance,  and  dated  Harrisburg,  1866: 

"Thirteen  years  ago,  a  half  dozen  young  men  graduated  from  a  small  Commercial 
College  in  Cleveland.  To-day,  thirty  thousand  men,  both  old  and  young,  are  bearing  the 
diplomas  of  the  International  Chain.  Thirteen  years  ago,  a  small  advertisement  in  a 
local  paper  informed  the  public  that  a  Commercial  College  had  just  been  started  in  the 
city  of  Cleveland.  To-day,  forty-eight  monthly  papers,  with  a  combined  circulation  of 
over  a  million  copies  per  year,  are  distributed  gratuitously  by  the  International  Chain. 
Thirteen  years  ago,  a  half  dozen  manuscripts  and  two  teachers  were  considered  suflBcient. 
To-day,  two  hundred  and  tifty  teachers  and  the  most  complete  text-book  on  book-keeping 
extant — a  treatise  on  commercial  law,  commercial  arithmetic  and  railroading,  with  interest 
tables,  etc.,  are  a  few  of  the  labors  accomplished  by  the  proprietors  of  this  Chain." 

These  brief  words  give  us  a  fair  idea  of  the  grand  scheme  for  giving 


HENRY   B.  BRYANT.  567 

young  men,  and  young  women,  too,  a  practical  education,  and  for  which 
our  country  is  more  indehted  to  Mr.  11.  B.  liryant  than  to  any  or  all 
others.  Modest  almost  to  a  fault,  always  preferring  to  stand  in  the  back- 
ground, and  be  "the  power  behind  the  throne"  rather  than  the  royal 
puppet  upon  it,  he  devised  the  plans  which  others  helped  to  execute, 
and  in  Mr.  Stratton,  whose  partnership  with  him  was  only  dissolved  by 
death,  he  had  a  most  effective  co-laborer.  \\'hen  it  became  certain  that 
the  protracted  illness  of  the  latter  was  a  sickness  unto  death,  Mr.  Bryant 
found  it  necessary — at  least  exi)edient — to  change  somewhat  his  mode  of 
operation.  Instead  of  being  a  partner  in  the  various  Commercial  Colleges 
which  he  had  organized,  he  sold,  as  he  had  opportunity,  the  interest  of 
himself  and  Mr.  Stratton  to  the  local  partner  ami  manager.  In  that  way 
he  ha.s  of  late  greatly  reduced  the  amount  of  his  labor  and  responsibility. 
This  step  became  necessary,  not  only  on  account  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Stratton,  which  occurred  February  20,  1867,  but  because  his  pergonal 
responsibilities  required  much  of  his  attention. 

Mr.  Bryant  is,  pre-eminently,  the  friend  of  young  men.  Having 
been  obliged  to  depend  wholly  upon  his  own  resources  Avhen  a  youth,  he 
knows  how  to  sympathize  with  their  struggles  and  aspirations.  Many 
are  the  men,  now  in  the  lieydey  of  prosperity,  who  are  indebted  to  his 
munificence  and  wise  counsels  for  their  start  in  life.  He  is  not  only  a 
great  teacher  and  sagacious  business  man,  but  a  noble  philanthropist, 
helping  those  who  most  need  assistance  and  will  make  the  best  use  of  it. 


i 


i 


i 


ALEXANDER  C.  McCLUllG. 


» 


Among  the  young  men  of  Chicago  whom  the  war  elevated  into  public 
notice,  not  one  reached  that  prominence  with  more  sterling  qualities, 
physically  and  intellectually,  or  with  less  covetousness  of  it,  than 
Alexander  C.  McClurg.  On  his  father's  side  he  is  of  Irish  descent, 
and  ancestrally  may  trace  back  his  martial  inclinations,  his  grandfather 
having  sought  America  as  an  asylum  from  political  punishment  incurred 
in  the  rebellion  of  1798,  and  his  father,  Alexander  McClurg,  having 
originally  built  the  Fort  Pitt  Foundry,  at  Pittsburgh,  Avhich  furnished 
iron  arguments  on  every  battle-field  of  the  late  war,  and  on  every  deck 
of  the  Union  navy, 

Alexander  C,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Philadeli)hin, 
but  his  boyhood  was  mainly  spent  in  Pittsburgh,  whither  his  parents 
had  returned.  He  graduated  at  Miami  University,  Oxford,  Ohio,  near 
Cincinnati,  and,  returning  to  Pittsburgh,  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  AValter  H.  Lowrie,  Chief  Justice  of  Penn- 
sylvania. His  constitution  was  not  sufficiently  robust  to  allow  of  the 
very  close  application  which  an  ambitious  student  deems  the  condition 
of  eminence  at  the  bar.  The  gradual  impairing  of  his  health  compelled 
him  to  relinquish  his  studies.  In  the  autumn  of  1859,  he  came  to 
Chicago,  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the  more  active  sphere  of  mercantile 
life,  and,  immediately  upon  his  arrival,  identified  himself  with  the 
book-house  of  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  then,  as  now,  the  leading  establish- 
ment in  that  branch  of  business  in  the  West.  All  his  antecedents  and  his 
predilections  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  tiie  book  business,  and  he  brought 
to  it  not  only  fine  natural  tastes  and  acquirements,  but  determined  energy 
and  close  application  to  the  details  of  his  calling. 


570  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

He  was  already  assuming  a  prominent  position  in  the  house  when  the 
war  broke  out.  All  his  interests  and  his  inclination  impelled  him  to 
remain,  but  duty  was  paramount.  His  slight  frame  and  rather  delicate 
appearance  offered  a  natural  objection  to  the  exposures  and  privations 
of  the  field,  and  the  constant  tenor  of  the  advice  of  friends  and  relatives 
added  to  its  force;  but  the  calls  of  duty  were  more  forcible  even  than 
these.  Uro-ed  by  the  purest  of  personal  motives,  he  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  Company  "D,"  Sixtieth  Regiment  Illinois  State  Militia,  commanded 
by  Captain  Bradley,  now  General  Bradley,  of  the  regular  service,  and 
one  of  the  most  accomplished  soldiers  Chicago  sent  to  the  war.  The 
regiment  Avas  intended  for  the  three  months'  service,  but  it  was  not 
needed,  and,  after  two  or  three  months'  drill,  the  organization  was 
disbanded,  and  Mr.  McClurg  continued  for  a  time  in  business.  The 
second  urgent  call  of  the  President  for  troops  found  him  willing  to  go 
if  needed.  On  the  15th  of  August,  1862,  the  Crosby  Guards,  which  he 
had  partially  raised,  and  which  were  named  for  U.  H.  Crosby,  Esq.,  who 
had  taken  a  direct  interest  in  the  enlistment  of  the  company,  were 
mustered  into  the  service,  and  on  the  same  day  he  was  elected  Captain 
of  the  company,  which  was  subsequently  attached  to  the  Second  Board 
of  Trade  Regiment. 

Under  the  command  of  Colonel  Frank  Sherman,  the  regiment  left  for 
Louisville  on  the  4th  of  September,  and  Captain  McClurg  was  now  in 
active  service.  The  details  of  that  service  we  must  briefly  narrate.  The 
regiment  first  moved  to  the  defense  of  Cincinnati  against  the  threatened 
attack  of  Kirby  Smith,  and  returned  to  Louisville  in  time  to  participate 
in  the  battle  of  Perryville,  only  one  month  from  the  time  they  left 
Chicago.  After  their  arrival  at  Nashville,  Captain  McClurg  was  detailed 
as  Judge  Advocate  of  an  important  General  Court  Martial,  of  which 
General  Woodruff,  of  Kentucky,  was  President.  He  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  this  position  with  ability  so  marked  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
Major-General  McCook,  who,  in  May,  1863,  immediately  after  Captain 
McClurg's  recovery  from  a  violent  attack  of  fever,  placed  him  upon  his 
staff  as  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-General.  In  this  capacity  he  served 
through  the  active  campaigns  of  Rosecrans  against  Tullahoma  and  Chat- 
tanooga, participating  in  the  battles  of  Liberty  Gap  and  Chickamauga. 
On  the  re-organization  of  the  army  after  this  latter  battle.  General 
McCook  was  relieved  from  command,  and  the  Captain  expected  to 
be    allowed    to    return    to    his   regiment.      He   was,    however,    at   once 


ALEXANDER    C.    MrCI,FRG.  571 

foinplimented  by  oftbr.s  ol"  jjositions  on  the  stalH*  of  Generals  Tliumas, 
Slieridan  and  Baird.  As  General  Baird  offered  him  the  Adjutant- 
Geueralship  of  his  Division,  he  preferred  and  accepted  that.  The 
following  letter,  written  .sonic  time  after,  is  an  evidence  of  tlie  estimate 
which  General  Sheridan  at  that  time  set  npon  him: 

"WiNCHESTEB,  Va.,  Novcmbcr  16,  1864. 
"My  Dear  C.\rTAiN: 

*  *  *  *  *  "I  am   pleased   to   tender   you   my   thanks 

for  the  valuable  services  you  rendered  while  with  the  Twentieth  Corps.  I  was  anxious, 
immediately  after  you  were  relieved  from  duly  with  General  McCook,  to  secure  your 
services  with  me,  but  the  only  position  on  my  staif  then  vacant — that  of  Mustering 
Officer — not  being  calculated  to  exercise  your  military  ability,  you  declined  it.  Still,  I 
should  again  have  applied  for  you,  had  not  my  early  transfer  to  the  Cavalry  Corps  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  temporarily  prevented.  *  *  *  *  j  ^-iH^ 

at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  if  agreeable  to  you,  be  pleased  to  obtain  the  services 
of  one  so  thoroughly  competent  ******* 

"I  am  yours,  very  truly, 

"P.  H.  Sheridan, 

"  Maj.  Gen'l  U.  S.  Vol. 
"Capt.  A.  C.  McCluro,  A.  A.  G.,  U.  S.  Vols." 

When  this  letter  M'as  received,  Captain  jNIcClurg  was  too  im])ortantly 
connected  with  the  AVestern  command  to  allow  even  of  his  acce])ting  the 
offer  of  the  already  brilliant  hero  of  the  Shenandoah. 

He  continued  as  the  Adjutant-General  of  Baird's  Division,  doing 
valuable  service,  while  our  army  was  beleaguered  in  Chattanooga  by 
Bragg's  forces,  and  at  the  battle  of  Mission  Hidge.  In  the  latter 
brilliant  action  his  horse  was  twice  shot  under  him,  and  he  received 
special  and  distinguished  mention  for  personal  gallantry  and  important 
service. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  1864,  he  was  assigned  to  the  position  of 
Adjutant-General  of  the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  under  General  John 
M.  Palmer,  of  Illinois,  Shortly  aflerwards,  the  corps  moved  on  the 
campaign  against  Atlanta,  with  its  five  months  of  ince.s.sant  battles  and 
skirmishes.  Three  weeks  previous  to  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  General 
Palmer  was  relieved,  and  Major-General  Jeff.  C.  Davis  was  a.ssigned  to 
the  command.  Ho  immediately  requested  Captain  McCliu'g  to  retain  his 
po.sition  at  the  head  of  the  staff,  and  applied  to  the  President  for  Ids 
assignment  as  Adjutant-General,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
The  appointment  was  at  once  made  by  the  War  Department,  whonnpon 


572  BIOGRAPHICAIi  SKETCHES. 

Colonel  McClurg  was  declared,  in  general  orders,  Chief  of  Staff.  The 
application  for  promotion  General  Davis  based  upon  his  gallant  conduct 
in  the  battle  of  Jonesboro'.  Then  followed  the  tedious  chase  of  Hood, 
and  Sherman's  memorable  march  to  the  sea,  the  details  of  Avhich  have 
been  written  and  rewritten  in  the  newspaper  press  and  in  contemporaneous 
histories,  and  sung  by  poets  all  over  the  land,  until  they  are  as  familiar  as 
household  words.  In  all  the  privations  and  exposures,  in  all  the  battles 
and  victories,  in  all  the  reconnoissances  and  skirmishes,  and  in  all  the 
glories  and  triumphs  of  that  great  march,  General  McClurg  bore  an 
active  and  honorable  part.  When  the  corps  finally  made  its  triumphant 
entrance  into  Washington,  and  participated  in  the  review  of  the  Grand 
Army,  he  was  at  his  post.  Shortly  after  this,  General  Stoneman,  then 
assigned  to  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  telegraphed  to  him,  although 
they  had  never  met,  to  accept  the  Adjutant-Generalship  of  that  depart- 
ment; but  he  declined  the  offer.  The  war  was  now  over,  and  duty  no 
longer  demanded  that  he  should  remain  in  the  service.  As  soon  as  the 
Avork  of  disbanding  his  old  corps — the  Fourteenth — was  completed,  he 
was  honorably  mustered  out  of  the  service.  He  enlisted  for  the  war  as  a 
private.  He  returned  with  a  "star"  upon  his  epaulets,  and  the  names 
of  the  following  engagements  inscribed  upon  the  sword  presented  to  him 
at  his  departure:  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Liberty  Gap,  Chickamauga, 
Chattanooga,  Mission  Ridge,  Ringgold,  Resaca,  Adairsville,  Big  Shanty, 
New  Hope  Church,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Chattahoochie  River,  Peachtree 
Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro',  Savannah,  Averasboro',  Bentonville. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  received  very  complimentary  letters  from 
Generals  Baird,  Mitchell,  Davis  and  others,  testifying  to  his  bravery  as 
an  officer,  and  to  the  eminently  satisfactory  manner  in  which  he  had 
performed  his  staff  duties.  General  Davis  was  especially  anxious  that  he 
should  go  into  the  regular  army,  and  voluntarily  gave  him  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Stanton,  recommending  him  for  a  high  position,  which  letter,  hoAv- 
ever,  has  never  been  used.  From  letters  written  by  Generals  Sherman 
and  George  H.  Thomas,  we  make  the  following  extracts : 

General  Sherman  writes: 

*  *  *  *         "It  is  both  proper  and  right  that  I  should  personally 

acknowledge  my  sense  of  personal  obligation  to  the  many  young  gentlemen  who  came 
into  the  volunteer  army  from  civil  life,  lo  serve  our  common  country  at  a  time  of  her 
greatest  peril,  and  who  filled  their  positions  with  so  much  credit  to  themselves  and  the 
service.     Among  these  I  recognize  yourself,  especially  during   the  time  you  were  the 


ALEXANDER   C.   MrCLrRO.  573 

Adjutant-General  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  under  the  command  of  Ocneral  Jet!".  ('.  Davis, 
during  the  siege  of  Atlanta,  the  march  to  Savannah,  and  the  subsequent  campaign  which 
closed  the  civil  war.     Accept  my  best  wishes  for  your  success  in  civil  life." 

General  Thomas  says : 

"It  affords  me  pleasure  to  remember  that  you  came  personally  under  my  notice  early 
in  the  war,  and  continued  so  until  September,  1804,  when  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  of  which 
you  were  Chief  of  Staff,  was  removed  from  my  command.  The  fact  that  you  enlisted  as 
private  and  gradually  rose  to  the  grade  of  Brevet  Brigadier-General,  is  evidence  that 
you  were  earnest  and  devoted  in  your  duties,  and  gave  satisfaction  to  your  superior 
officers;  and  it  is  but  just  to  add,  that  I  always  recognized  in  you  a  very  active  and  able 
officer,  as  well  as  a  courteous  gentleman." 

It  Ma-s  tlie  unanimous  and  freely  expressed  desire  of  all  his  superior 
officers  with  whom  he  had  had  staff  relations,  that  he  siiould  go  into  tlio 
regular  army,  antl  perhaps  his  own  inclinations  lay  in  the  same  direction; 
but  with  the  close  of  the  war  his  duties  were  closed,  and  his  original 
intention,  together  with  the  preferences  of  relatives  and  friend.s,  led  him 
to  resume  the  business  of  civil  life.  AVhen  he  Inid  aside  his  sword,  he 
re-entered  the  firm  of  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  and  refilled  the  jilace  which 
had  been  kept  for  him,  where  he  still  remains.  As  one  of  the  junior 
members  of  the  firm,  he  has  contributed  largely  to  its  prosperity,  aud  to 
the  potent  influence  it  wields  in  moulding  the  educational,  literary  and 
artistic  character  of  the  West. 

It  is  due  to  General  McClurg  that  we  should  speak  of  him  both  as  a 
gentleman  and  a  soldier.  He  is  a  gentleman  in  the  best  sense  of  that 
much  abused  word,  and  may  base  his  title  to  the  term  not  only  in  external 
polish  of  manner,  but  in  innate  dignity  of  character  and  inflexibility 
of  moral  purpo-se.  His  address  is  such  as  commands  respect  from  all. 
The.se  elements  of  the  man,  joined  with  a  strong  will,  determined  })hysical 
courage  and  conscientious  application  to  duty,  won  for  him  his  military 
success.  The  union  of  these  qualities  was  signally  marked  at  the  battle 
of  Jonosboro',  in  an  incident  narrated  to  us  by  an  eye-witness.  An  appa- 
rently impregnable  position  of  the  enemy,  guarded  by  a  battery  })ouring 
forth  a  most  galling  fire  of  grape,  was  to  be  charged.  Inevitable 
annihilation  seemed  to  threaten  the  troops  that  should  make  the  attempt. 
Naturally  the  regiments  hesitated  and  wavered.  It  was  the  crisis  of  the 
battle — defeat  here  was  defeat  everywiiere,  and  instantly,  without  waiting 
even  to  draw  his  sword,  General  McClurg  leaped  over  the  worl<s  bi'bintl 


574  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

which  our  men  were  protected,  and  rushed  forward,  waving  his  hand- 
kerchief, which  happened  to  be  in  his  hand,  and  shouting,  in  a  loud, 
clear  voice,  "Forward!"  The  coolness  and  promptness  of  the  action 
were  electric  in  their  effect.  The  men  followed  him ;  and,  after  one  of  the 
bloodiest  charges  of  the  Atlanta  campaign,  the  position  was  taken,  and 
victory  was  secured. 

Bluster  and  bravado  were  foreign  to  his  manner.  His  native  dignity 
never  suffered  from  the  contaminations  of  the  camp  or  the  excesses 
of  the  battle-field.  He  always  preserved  an  equability  of  temper  under 
the  most  trying  circuiiistances,  and  his  quiet  courage  never  Avavered, 
even  in  the  most  desperate  straits.  At  Bentonville,  he  performed  such 
gallant  and  valuable  service  that  the  correspondent  of  the  "New  York 
Herald"  spoke  of  him  as  cutting  his  way  through  a  rebel  division. 

His  demeanor  to  inferiors  and  superiors  was  uniformly  marked  by  the 
same  courtesy,  and  he  commanded  the  respect  and  admiration  of  each. 

How  intimate  and  confidential  were  the  relations  which  subsisted 
between  himself  and  General  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  whose  Chief  of  Staff  he  was 
during  the  last  year  of  service,  and  how  completely  tliat  gallant  soldier 
relied  upon  him,  is  well  known  to  every  member  of  the  old  Fourteenth 
Corps.  What  General  Davis  (a  man  who  was  well  known  to  be  chary 
of  commendation)  thought  of  him,  is  evident  from  a  sentence  or  two  in 
the  letter  which  he  voluntarily  addressed  to  ISIr.  Stanton: 

*  *  *  *         "  The  delicate  and  arduous  duties  of  Chief  of  Staff  have 

been  so  zealously  and  wisely  executed  by  him,  and  his  assistance  has  been  so  valuable  to 
me,  that  I  feel  myself  unable  to  requite  the  debt  of  gratitude  I  am  under  to  him;  and  I 
therefore  take  the  liberty,  on  parting  with  him,  to  ask  that  he  be  appointed  to  a  position 
in  the  regular  service.  His  preference  would  be  for  the  Adjutant-General's  Depart- 
ment of  the  staff,  and  his  great  experience  in  this  department  of  the  service  has  qualified 
him  in  an  eminent  degree.  ******* 

1  earnestly  hope  that  my  request  in  behalf  of  this  gallant  and  distinguished  officer  will 
be  complied  with,  and  his  services  thus  rewarded." 

In  another  communication  addressed  to  the  War  Department,  he 
styles  him  "  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  distinguished  staff  officers  in  the 
service."  All  his  staff  duties  were  efficiently  performed,  with  the  utmost 
punctuality  and  regularity,  and  his  evenness  of  temper  and  gentlemanly 
dignity,  no  more  nor  no  less  than  he  had  possessed  in  civil  life,  made  it  a 
pleasure  then,  as  it  is  now,  to  transact  business  with  him. 

As  we  have  before  stated,  he  entered   the  volunteer  service  with  the 


Y 


» 


ALEXANDER   C.   McCI.URG.  575 

purest  of  personal  motives.  He  coiiseientiously  felt  that  it  was  his  duty 
to  go,  and  in  all  his  various  stations  he  labored  with  enthusiasm  and  love. 
He  had  no  unworthy  personal  ambition  to  gratify  beyond  the  complete 
fulfillment  of  his  duty,  wherever  he  was  placed.  The  small  jealousies 
of  the  service  were  foreign  lo  him,  and  he  was  never  absent  from  his  post 
to  secure  advancement  through  the  influence  of  friends  at  home.  His 
promotions  were  rapid,  but  they  never  came  from  his  motion  or  of  his 
seeking.  The  high  offices  that  he  filled  came  to  him,  not  he  to  them, 
because  the  soldierly  manner  in  which  he  executed  his  duties  unmis- 
takably pointed  him  out  as  the  man  best  qualified  to  fill  them.  All  those 
qualities  which  shone  so  brilliantly  in  his  military  career,  are  to-day  just 
as  bright  in  his  social  and  business  intercourse  with  men. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  man  that,  in  the  portrait  which  accompanies 
this  sketch,  he  appears  in  the  uniform  of  a  Colonel — that  in  wiiich  he 
was  best  known  to  his  comrades  in  the  service — and  not  in  the  uniform 
which  his  later  rank  entitled  him  to  wear. 

We  mav  well  close  our  sketch  by  saying  that  his  career  in  the  service 
was  another  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  Tennyson's  lines: 

"  Not  once  or  twice  in  our  fair  island  story 
Tlie  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory." 


FKAXC    P>.  WILKIE. 


F.  B.  ^^'ILKIE,  at  ])rost'nt  principal  writer  on  the  "Cliicago  Times," 
\va.s  born  July  2,  1832,  in  West  Charlton,  Saratoga  County,  New  York. 
His  father  was  a  carpenter,  but  subsequently  removed  to  a  i'arm  in 
Galway,  in  the  same  county. 

Until  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  Mr.  Wilkie  remained  at  home,  or, 
during  the  last  two  or  three  years  of  this  period,  worked  for  neighboring 
farmers.  He  attended  the  district  school  during  the  winters,  and  became 
proficient  mainly  in  reading,  for  which  he  acquired  an  absorbing  taste, 
and  in  whose  gratification  he  was  limited  to  the  Spelling  Book,  Bible, 
English  Reader,  an  old  copy  of  Buffbn,  and  some  hard-tack  productions 
of  the  stvle  of  Baxter's  Saints'  Rest.  All  these  he  devoured  again  and 
again,  until  their  contents  became  as  familiar  as  household  words. 

When  about  thirteen,  to  escape  a  promised  thrashing  from  his 
employer,  a  farmer,  he  ran  away — footed  it  to  Amsterdam — drove  on  the 
Erie  Canal  till  the  close  of  navigation — was  cheated  out  of  his  wages — 
and  then,  much  tattered  and  forlorn,  he  secured  a  passage  down  the 
Pludson  to  New  York.  Here  his  life  was  a  mixed  one;  he  peddled 
matches,  ran  errands,  held  horses,  sold  newspapers,  and  bravely  and 
honestly  fought  his  way  in  the  great  city  for  two  years,  when  he  returned 
home,  l-'rom  his  fifteenth  to  his  eighteenth  year,  he  Morkcd  ibr  farmers 
in  summer,  and  attended  the  district  school  in  winter.  When  eighteen, 
he  went  to  Central  New  York,  and  served  a  year  ami  a  half  at  black- 
smithing,  making  a  superior  workman;  but,  disliking  the  business,  he 
gave  it  up  and  returned  to  his  native  town.  During  all  these  years  he 
had  been  a  constant  and  voracious  reader,  and  had  accumulated  a  stock 
of  information  on  almost  all  possible  points.     He  reatl  everything  that 


578  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

fell  in  his  way,  and  went  through  a  book  with  marvelous  rapidity. 
After  his  essay  at  the  forge  and  anvil,  he  determined  to  pursue  a  regular 
course  of  study.  His  first  attempt  was  at  English  Grammar.  During 
four  months  that  he  worked  for  a  farmer,  he  had  forty  minutes  at  mid-day, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  four  months  he  liad  thoroughly  mastered  Kirkham 
a,nd  Goold  Brown. 

His  stru2:gle  from  this  period,  until  he  entered  Union  College,  in  1855, 
was  entirely  unaided.  He  taught  school  in  the  winter,  and,  possessing 
fine  mechanical  abilities,  he  worked  at  carpentry  during  portions  of  the 
summer.  He  gave  every  odd  moment  to  his  books,  and,  with  such 
assistance  as  was  available  in  an  occasional  recitation  to  a  neighboring 
cleroyman,  he  was  able,  when  he  presented  himself  for  examination,  to 
enter  Union  College  in  the  third  term  of  the  sophomore  class. 

His  preparatory  studies  included  a  large  number  of  languages,  for 
whose  study  he  developed  an  unusual  proficiency.  At  this  period  he  had 
given  a  good  deal  of  attention  to,  and  was  tolerably  familiar  with,  French, 
German,  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  his  board  for  the  first  six  months  was  paid 
in  advance,  by  his  building  a  barn  for  the  gentleman  with  whom  he 
boarded. 

Like  some  other  young  men's,  Mr.  Wilkie's  first  eifusions  were 
sentimental.  He  achieved  some  considerable  local  reputation  by  the  pub- 
lication of  sundry  poems,  chiefly  araatoiy,  the  first  of  which,  by  the  way, 
that  was  ever  printed  in  a  newspaper,  was  given  to  the  public  by  Pro- 
fessor Amasa  McCoy,  then  the  editor  of  a  paper  in  Ballston  Spa.  Some 
anonymous  poems,  sent  to  the  ''Daily  Star,"  of  Schenectady,  attracted 
attention,  and,  in  consequence,  Mr.  Wilkie  was  overwhelmed  with  joy 
by  an  offer  from  the  publisher  to  take  editorial  charge  of  the  "  Star,"  at  a 
salary  of  four  dollars  a  week. 

He  eagerly  embraced  the  gorgeous  proposal,  and  mounted  the  tripod, 
from  which  he  has  never  yet  descended.  He  graduated  in  due  season, 
with  full  credentials.  That  he  was  industrious  and  possessed  endurance, 
is  shown  in  the  fact  that,  for  a  space  of  a  year  or  more,  he  kept  up  his 
studies,  did  all  the  editorial  and  scissoring  for  the  "Star;"  started  a 
literary  and  musical  weekly,  the  composition  of  whose  music  he.  taught 
himself  to  perform;  wrote  a  serial  novel,  which  ran  through  the  "Star' 
and  his  weekly ;  learned  to  set  type — and  all  those  various  operations  at 
the  same  time.     The  least  portion  of  these  labors  was  his  lessons. 


FRANC   B.   WILKIE.  579 

Possessed  of  an  extraordinary  memory,  lie  eould  almost  invariably 
master  the  hardest  task,  l»y  merely  readint;  it  throuuh.  His  novel — a 
philosophic-sentimental  afTair — never  saw  tlie  light  in  mannseript.  He 
composed  it  and  set  it  in  type,  Avithont  its  beinji;  written. 

'  In  1856,  an  old  college  classmate,  named  Harrington,  who  had 
removed  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  prevailed  on  j\Ir.  W'ilkie  to  go  to  that  city 
and  join  him  in  starting  a  daily  Democratic  ncws])aper.  Both  had  little 
or  no  practical  experience,  and  hence,  in  1857-8,  when  the  financial  storm 
swept  over  the  country,  the  "Daily  News"  was  sold;  and  with  it  went 
some  very  roseate  anticipations. 

During  his  residence  in  Davenport,  INIr,  AVilkie  was  married  to  Miss 
Ellen,  daughter  of  John  Morse,  Esq.,  of  Elgin,  Illinois. 

After  having  sold  the  "Ncms,"  he  devoted  three  months  to  getting  up 
a  book,  "Davenport,  Past  and  Present,"  an  interesting  and  valuable 
production,  but  which,  from  a  variety  of  causes,  was  not,  to  the  author,  a 
financial  success. 

In  the  summer  of  1858,  he  published  a  campaign  paper  in  the  interests 
of  Douglas,  in  Elgin,  Illinois.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  he 
became  connected  with  the  "Dubuque  (Iowa)  Herald,"  with  which  he 
remained  until  1861.  During  his  connection  with  the  "  Herald,"  he 
established  a  reputation  as  a  humorist  and  a  writer  of  more  than  ordinary 
force  and  brilliance. 

In  1861,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  he  accompanied  the  First 
Iowa  Regiment.  A  paper  which  he  issued  at  Macon  City,  Missouri,  from 
a  deserted  rebel  office,  attracted  a  good  deal  of  notice,  and  secured  him  an 
engagement  on  the  "New  York  Times."  As  an  army  correspondent,  he 
rose  at  once  to  the  head  of  the  ])rofessi()n  in  the  'Wv^t.  His  account  of 
the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,  originally  published  in  the  "Dubuque 
Herald,"  was  copied  extensively,  and  was  accounted  a  most  jnasterly 
production.  His  relation  of  the  siege  of  Lexington  was  copied  from  the 
"Xew  York  Times"  by  "Frank  Leslie,"  and  was  by  that  journal  pro- 
nounced "e(pial  to  the  very  best  of  Russell's  productions." 

His  connection  with  this  Lexington  light  is  worthy  of  notice.  He 
was  in  St.  Louis  at  the  time  Price  marched  against  Mulligan.  Hearing 
that  the  latter  was  surrounded,  Mr.  Wilkie  crossed  Missouri,  and  entered 
Price's  camp  alone,  boldly  announeed  himself  and  his  ])roression,  and 
added  that  he  had  come  to  write  nj)  the  battle,  and  relied  upon  (!enei-al 
Price  for  ])roj)er  treatment.      Pleased  at  tlu;  iinpudenee  of  the  operation, 


580  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

General  Price  treated  the  correspondent  like  a  gentleman,  and  when 
Mulligan  surrendered,  Mr.  \Vilkie  returned  unmolested  to  St.  Louis. 
This  secured  him  a  promotion  to  the  position  of  chief  correspondent  of  the 
Department  of  the  West,  on  the  "New  York  Times,"  and  likewise  the 
compliment  of  a  long  editorial  in  that  journal,  in  which  his  personal 
services  were  very  flatteringly  alluded  to,  and  his  performance,  in  giving 
himself  up  to  an  enemy  to  get  a  battle  account,  was  pronounced  to  be 
"wholly  without  a  parallel  for  its  daring  in  the  history  of  journalism." 

As  the  "Gal way"  correspondent  of  the  "New  York  Times,"  his 
letters  will  be  remembered  by  every  person  who  read  that  paper  during 
the  war. 

He  was  with  Lyon,  and  then  Fremont.  He  was  with  General  Grant 
during  all  his  career,  from  the  taking  of  Fort  Henry  to  the  surrender  of 
Vicksburg.  During  all  this  time,  he  witnessed  and  described  every  battle 
of  importance  in  the  West  and  Southwest.  His  accounts  were  charac- 
terized by  a  freshness,  a  vividness,  a  fidelity,  a  descriptive  elegance  and 
finish  that  were  universally  recognized,  and  wliich  induced  the  admiring 
editor  of  a  Chicago  newspaper  to  pronounce  through  liis  journal  that 
"Wilkie  was  the  best  army  correspondent  in  the  world." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  Mr.  Wilkie  visited 
New  Orleans,  to  satisfy  himself  by  personal  inspection  that  the  river  was 
open  to  the  Gulf;  after  which  he  resigned  his  position  on  the  "New  York 
Times,"  with  the  purpose  of  putting  his  experience  in  l)Ook  form.  He 
made  an  extensive  contract  with  a  heavy  pul)lishing  house  in  Cincinnati 
for  a  series  of  works  with  reference  to  the  history  of  the  Avar  in  the  West, 
Avhich  it  would  have  taken  about  three  years  to  accomplish.  The  delay 
of  a  letter  in  transmission  broke  up  the  engagement,  and  then  he  took 
the  position  of  an  editorial  writer  on  the  "Chicago  Times." 

Since  October,  1863,  Mr.  Wilkie  has  been  connected  with  that  journal. 
He  appears  every  day  in  its  editorial  columns,  and  has  been  mainly 
instrumental  in  building  up  a  certain  department,  which  the  readers  of 
tliat  paper  find  easy  to  recognize. 

As  a  writer,  Mr.  Wilkie  is  distinguished  for  great  versatility.  He 
writes  with  almost  incredible  ease  and  rajDidity.  While  his  preference  is 
for  sentiment  as  against  dry  logic,  he  hesitates  at  no  subject — handling 
politics,  finance,  science,  morality,  a  dog  fight  or  a  biblical  criticism,  with 
equal  facility. 

He  has  large  imagination,  and  a  lucid  appreciation  of  the  humorous, 


FRANC   B.   WILKIK.  581 

lis  is  evinced  in  tlu-  general  style  of  his  editorial  writing,  hnt  mainly  in 
liis  sketehes,  rumbles  abont  town,  ete.,  wliiili  eoustitute  a  well-known 
I'eature  in  the  "Sunday  Times."  His  happiest  efforts  are  iu  the  direction 
of"  descriptive  writing,  in  his  artistic  and  minute  elaboration  of  details,  and 
in  a  free  and  easy  ability  to  sketch  the  jMrsonnd  of  those  with  whom  he 
is  thrown  in  contact.  He  possesses  a  fund  of  sarcasm,  whose  chief  fault  is 
its  being  occasionally  too  sardonic  to  be  agreeable,  and  its  indiscriminate 
use  in  the  treatment  of  subjects,  without  due  reference  to  their  character. 
Beneath  his  apparent  contempt  for  a  great  many  things,  he  possesses  a 
genuine  regard  for  what  is  really  good  and  true  in  life;  and  this  admi- 
ration not  unfrequently  burets  through  his  cynicism  and  makes  itself  felt 
with  emphasis. 

Considering  his  late  start  in  life,  Mr,  Wilkie  has  yet  a  long  time  in 
which  his  value  as  a  writer  may  be  improved,  and  his  faults  toned  down. 
It  is  safe  to  predict  for  him  a  most  promising  and  brilliant  future.  He  is 
yet  a  hard  student,  and  possesses  to-day  precisely  as  strong  an  and)ition  to 
progress,  as  he  did  when  he  commenced  the  study  of  grammar  at  the 
farm-house.  Entirely  self-made  thus  far,  he  can  continue  the  labor  to 
almost  any  extent. 


JOHN  C.  BURROUGHS. 


President  Bueroughs,  one  of  our  foremost  educators,  is  of  English 
Puritan  descent.  One  of  his  ancestors  was  the  Kevcrend  Jeremiah 
Burroughs,  an  independent  clergyman  of  the  seventeentli  century,  and  a 
member  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  who  earned  an  endur- 
ing reputation  as  an  author  and  scholar.  The  family  name  appears  upon 
the  earliest  pages  of  our  colonial  history,  and  has  been  made  honorable  by 
several  men  of  parts  in  professional  and  mercantile  life.  The  Reverend 
Dr.  Joseph  Burroughs  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Dartmouth  College. 

Immediately  after  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  paternal 
grandflither  removed  from  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  to  Dutchess  County, 
New  York,  and  subsequently  to  Delaware  County,  of  the  same  State, 
where  he  died,  leaving  the  homestead  to  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  the  late  Deacon  Curtis  Burroughs,  who  was  a  man  greatly  esteemed 
for  purity  of  life  and  zeal  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  throughout  all  the 
region  in  which  he  was  known.  He  established  the  first  Sunday  school 
west  of  Rochester,  and  was  always  on  the  alert  for  opportunities  to  do 
good  and  build  up  the  cause  he  cherished.     He  died  in  1863. 

The  mother  came  of  a  North  of  Ireland  stock,  and  inherited  any 
amount  of  capacity  for  exertion  and  endurance.     She  died  in  1850. 

John  C.  was  born  in  Stamford,  Delaware  County,  New  York,  on  the 
7th  of  December,  1818,  and  was  two  years  old  when  his  father  commenced 
his  toilsome  experience  as  a  pioneer  settler  in  the  western  i)art  of  the  State. 

During  this  experience  the  boy  grew  up.  Few  who  have  attained 
respectability  in  educational  circles  had  a  more  disheartening  recei)tion  at 
the  threshold  of  life.  Much  of  the  surrounding  country,  which  now 
"laughs  with  abundance,"  wa.s  then  abiding  under  its  ''thistly  curse,"  and 


584 


BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


covered  Avitli  a  "  boundless  contiguity  of  shade."  Trees  had  to  be  felled 
so  that  corn  could  be  planted.  The  new  settler's  work  is  slow  and  hard. 
They  are  the  picket  guard  of  civilization,  and  have  an  enemy  to  light 
whose  persistency  and  resistancy  none  can  pro])erly  comprehend  but  those 
who  encounter  him.  Neighbors  are  scarce  and  remote,  the  whistle  of  the 
locomotive  is  far  out  of  hearing,  and  no  stage  horn  even  cheers  the 
solitudes  with  its  promissory  notes.  The  farmer  breaks  his  own  roads, 
and  changes  their  "channel"  to  suit  the  whims  of  the  elements.  He 
works  with  his  own  hands,  building  his  own  house  and  reaping  his  own 
fields.  He  lives  "from  hand  to  mouth."  Weariness  pursues  him  day 
and  night,  and  after  long  years  of  self-sacrificing  toil,  he  "dies  without 
the  sight"  of  the  promised  land.  Others  reap  where  he  has  sown. 
Those  who  come  after  him  will  be  preferred  before  him.  The  honey 
and  milk  are  far  in  the  future. 

Such  are  the  thoughts  which  arise  in  the  mind,  and  the  scenes  that 
pass  before  the  imagination,  as  we  contemplate  the  embryo  President  of 
our  noble  University  plodding  tlirough  his  boyhood.  He  went  to  school 
in  the  log  school-house  that  stood  on  the  roadside,  sheltered  by  the 
venerable  oaks  which  bent  over  it  in  a  fatherly  way  and  stretched  their 
arms  around  it  as  protection  from  the  angry  winds.  Here  the  country 
schoolmaster  dispensed  sucli  instruction  as  he  Avas  in  possession  of,  or  such 
as  he  found  time  to  impart  after  eking  out  his  livelihood  with  axe  or 
scythe. 

However,  there  was  some  good  teaching  done  in  that  district  school. 
At  intervals  there  was  a  teacher  who  was  master  of  what  he  taught,  much 
to  the  account  of  young  Burroughs,  who  made  the  most  of  such  opportu- 
nities. He  was  as  anxious  as  he  was  apt  to  learn.  Closely  he  applied 
himself,  and  rapidly  he  improved,  considering  his  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages. And  so  this  schooling,  plain  and  rude  though  it  was,  was  a 
very  valuable  assistance  in  the  shaping  of  the  boy's  early  turn  of  mind. 
He  learned  lessons  of  the  pioneer  school  teacher  in  the  wilderness  never 
to  be  forgotten  in  after  life. 

And  the  home  was  a  school  in  which  the  parents  were  the  teachers. 
They  appreciated  the  importance  of  early  intellectual  training,  and 
devoted  themselves  with  pious  industiy  to  the  instruction  of  the  boy  in 
the  rudiments  of  an  English  education.  An  older  sister,  too,  was  as 
assiduous  as  she  was  conscientious  in  this  employment.  She  was  a  woman 
of  rare  Morth,  filling  the  house  with  the  radiance  of  her  charms.     Her 


JOHN   C.   BURROUGHS.  585 

kindly  words  and  gentle  manners  gave  to  her  instruction  a  weight  which 
made  them  irresi?Jtil)le.  Xor  did  the  brother  try  to  resist  them.  He  sat 
at  his  sister's  feet  M'ith  a  loving  heart  and  a  willing  mind,  spelling  out  the 
lesson  of  the  day  by  the  light  of  the  log  fire,  in  the  early  morning.  He 
remembers,  with  a  deep  feeling  of  gratitude  and  affection,  that  sister's 
fidelity,  and  will  ever  regard  her  labors  of  love  as  among  the  most 
effective  of  the  beneficent  influences  that  were  brought  to  bear  upon  his 
childhood. 

And  the  little  church  in  the  wilderness  he  will  always  recollect  with 
a  strong  and  sacred  sense  of  obligation.  It  met  in  no  "steeple  house." 
It  bowed  to  the  sway  of  no  majestic  organ.  It  sat  in  no  cushioned  pews. 
It  could  not  afford  to  hire  its  praising  done  by  a  fancy  choir,  nor  its 
preaching  done  by  a  learned  graduate.  Its  place  of  assembly  was  the 
school-house  or  the  log  home,  which  resounded  with  stirring  and  sturdy 
songs  of  Zion  rising  from  honest-hearted  worshipers,  who  felt  what  they 
sang,  and  sang  what  they  felt. 

The  preaching  was  by  a  plain  man,  on  plain  themes,  put  in  a  plain 
way.  The  boy's  mind  was  set  a-thinking  by  the  thinking  of  the  pioneer 
l)reacher,  which  reminds  us  of  that  significant  observation  of  the  late 
Thomas  Buckle,  that  the  church  is  the  only  link  which  some  have  to 
connect  them  with  the  intellectual  world.  It  is  so,  and  a  volume  might 
be  filled  with  the  fruits  of  the  fact.  Statesmen  have  had  their  first 
impulse  in  the  prayer  meeting,  and  orators  have  had  the  beginning  of 
their  training  there. 

The  mind  of  young  Burroughs  was  ploughed  by  the  rugged  sugges- 
tiveness  that  he  found  in  the  sermons  of  the  farmer-preacher.  lie  was  an 
hungered  intellectually,  as  well  as  spiritually,  by  the  preaching  that  fell 
upon  his  childhood's  ears.  Many  years  before  he  saw  a  meeting-house  he 
saw  "the  King  in  His  beauty,"  and  became  His  zealous  subject.  His 
heart  was  mellowed,  and  his  brain  quickened.  He  grew  in  divine  and 
human  knowledge. 

Nor  are  we  to  skip,  in  our  special  mention  here,  the  battle  with 
obstacles  which  gathered  upon  the  boy's  path  resulting  from  life  in  a  new 
country.  The  poverty  of  his  parents,  the  jiaucity  of  his  books,  the 
necessity  for  his  assistance  in  field  and  forest,  the  miasma  that  periodi- 
cally swept  the  country,  to  say  nothing  of  the  scarcely  less  dreaded 
tax-gatherer  of  the  "Holland  Purchase,"  who  made  his  annual  tour 
among  the  toil-worn  settlers,  combined  to  obstruct  the  feet  of  ambition 


586  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

and  to  tie  the  hands  of  high  endeavor.  And  this  boy  was  ambitious,  and 
was  animated  by  high  resolves.  As  he  sat  in  his  father's  little  Sunday 
school,  devouring  the  juvenile  literature  of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  or 
sat  at  the  feet  of  sister,  or  preacher,  or  teacher,  he  was  excited  with 
thoughts  of  going  to  college  and  rising  to  respectability  in  some  intellec- 
tual pursuit. 

When  he  was  about  twelve  years  of  age,  the  district  was  fortunate  in 
securing  the  services  of  a  teacher  in  the  log  school-house  who  was  possessed 
of  more  than  ordinary  attainments,  and  who  pronounced  young  Burroughs 
ready  for  an  advance  in  studies — advising  him  to  apply  himself  to  the 
study  of  natural  philosophy.  But  works  on  that  subject  had  not  found 
their  way  to  that  wilderness,  and  the  money  necessary  to  bring  them  Avas 
not  forthcoming.  A  Natural  Philosophy,  however,  he  would  have.  So  he 
shouldered  an  axe,  went  to  the  woods,  and  it  Avas  not  long  before  he  had 
cut  and  carted  to  tlie  distant  market  enough  wood,  at  twenty-five  cents 
per  cord,  to  put  him  in  possession  of  Blake's  Natural  Philosophy.  Other 
valuable  books,  such  as  Webster's  School  Dictionary,  Blaire's  Rhetoric,  etc., 
were  procured  by  similar  means. 

At  sixteen  years  of  age,  the  Inspector  of  Public  Schools  pronounced 
him  qualified  for  a  teacher,  and  he  made  an  engagement  for  four  months 
at  twelve  dollars  per  month.  He  continued  in  this  employment  for  four 
seasons,  working  upon  the  farm  during  the  intervening  summers. 
These  were  years  of  hard  work,  but  of  decided  progress.  He  was  soon 
enabled,  by  means  of  his  earnings,  to  remove  a  vexatious  and  burden- 
some debt  from  his  faithful  father's  shoulders.  And  by  thus  improving 
his  father's  circumstances  he  improved  his  own.  His  services  were  no 
longer  indispensable  on  the  farm,  and  his  time  was  thereafter  largely 
at  his  own  disposal.  He  could  do  with  it  as  he  chose,  and  he  determined 
to  devote  it,  hour  by  hour,  to  mental  improvement.  He  resolved  to 
press  on  and  up,  and  he  did  so. 

He  preferred  the  legal  profession.  From  early  childhood  that  Avas  his 
choice.  At  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  entered  the  law  office  of  an  eminerit 
attorney  in  Medina,  Orleans  County,  Ncav  York,  where  he  applied 
himself  passionately  and  patiently  to  the  books  that  Avere  set  before  him, 
making  up  AA^hat  Avas  lacking  in  his  means  of  subsistence  by  occasional 
service  as  clerk  in  a  book  store.  He  thought  himself  uoav  upon  the  path 
of  destiny.  He  had  talents  admirably  adapted  to  the  profession  he  had 
chosen,  as  Avell   as  a  thorough   liking   for   it.     But   he  Avas   no  sooner 


JOHN   C.    BURROUCxlIS.  587 

inimersed  in  the  pages  of  Bltickstonc  and  IloiVnian's  Legal  Conrse,  than  lie 
realized  his  deficiency  in  that  general  eonrse  of  stndy  Avhieh  is  necessary 
to  the  mastery  of  the  science  of  law.  He  saw  that  with  his  present 
attainments  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  beyond  mediocrity  in  that 
profession.  Immediately,  therefore,  a  new  i)lan  was  formed  and  a  new 
resolution  made.  He  Avould  acquire  a  thorough  classical  education,  and 
Avith  this  determination  he  entered  the  Brockport  Collegiate  Institute. 
The  next  three  years  were  spent  there  and  in  the  Middlebury,  now 
Wyoming,  Academy,  New  York,  where,  in  the  face  of  grievous  pecuniaiy 
embarrassments,  he  perfected  his  preparation  for  Yale  College,  whose 
sophomore  class  he  entered  in  the  autumn  of  1839.  He  was  graduated 
at  Yale  in  1842,  with  a  class  of  one  hundred  and  three,  and  had  the 
reward  of  his  irksome  pursuit  of  a  scholar's  honors  by  receiving  them  at 
the  hands  of  this  venerable  and  renowned  seat  of  learnine:. 

During  his  college  course,  his  mind  was  harrassed  with  skepticism,  and 
the  religion  he  had  learned  in  the  home  of  his  childhood  became  enfeebled 
by  a  partial  "eclipse  of  faith."  His  feet  "stumbled  on  the  dark 
mountains,"  but  the  two  immortal  Avorks  of  Paley,  Evidences  of 
Christianity  and  Natural  Philosophy,  Avhich  formed  a  part  of  the  college 
curriculum,  led  him  to  the  Rock  of  Refuge,  and  there  he  has  ever  since 
abided,  secure  and  in  peace.  He  Avas  all  the  stronger  for  the  struggle. 
The  sun  AA'as  all  the  brighter  for  the  distressing  darkness  which  had 
preceded  its  breaking  from  the  clouds.  The  young  man's  faith  A\'as 
reconstructed  and  re-established.  jNIany  have  to  go  through  this  })ainful 
process  of  reconstruction. 

A\'ith  the  breaking  of  the  clouds  came  a  ncAV  indication  of  Providence 
and  a  ncAV  revelation  as  to  the  future.  The  old  Avay  of  thinking  passed 
aAvay.  Ambition  Avent  under  in  the  struggle  Avith  duty.  The  Avords  of 
the  great  commission  came  murmuring  to  the  youth  on  every  zephvr,  and 
thundering  in  his  ears  Avith  every  storm.  With  alacrity  the  command 
was  obeyed,  and  after  filling  the  position  of  Princii)al  of  the  Hamilton 
Academy,  New  York,  for  a  year  and  a  half,  Mr.  Burroughs  entered  the 
Madison  Theological  Seminary  in  that  place,  from  Avhich  he  graduated  in 
1846.  In  1843,  he  Ava.s  married  to  Miss  Elvira  S.  Fields,  Principal  of 
the  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Hamilton,  who  has  ever  since  nobly  borne  her 
share  of  the  burthen  and  heat  of  the  day  Avhich  fell  to  the  lot  of  her 
husband. 

He   preached   a.s  a  "supply"  one  year  for  the   Baptist  Clinnh   in 


588  BIOGEAPHICAL,  SKETCHES. 

Waterford,  New  York,  and  was  for  about  five  years  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  West  Troy,  New  York.  He  had  acquired  in  college  an 
excellent  command  of  language,  and  soon  earned  the  name  of  a  good 
preacher  of  the  Gospel,  and  a  faithful  overseer  in  the  vineyard  of  his 
Lord. 

In  1852,  he  became  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Chicago. 
He  had  preached  but  one  Sabbath  in  the  meeting-house  of  his  new  parish 
when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  This  calamity  was  a  depressing  blow  to 
both  pastor  and  people,  but  with  that  elasticity  and  energy  for  which  the 
Baptists  are  distinguished,  they  soon  rallied  from  the  shock,  and  under 
the  leadership  of  the  new  pastor  the  funds  necessary  for  building 
purposes  were  solicited,  and  a  new  edifice  was  erected  in  1854,  at  an 
expense  of  $30,000. 

During  this  pastorate,  Dr.  Burroughs  established  the  "Christian 
Times,"  as  an  organ  of  his  denomination  for  the  Northwest,  and  that 
journal  was  conducted  by  him  for  several  mouths. 

Once  at  work  in  this  teeming  and  stirring  city,  he  exhibited  a 
zealous  interest  in  tlie  educational  affairs  of  the  AVest.  The  value  of  his 
aid  in  this  direction  was  recognized  by  a  call  to  the  Presidency  of 
ShurtleH'  College,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  in  1855,  which  he  declined. 

In  the  same  year,  he  was  the  first  mover  in  securing  of  the  late  Senator 
Douglas  the  donation  of  the  site  for  a  seat  of  learning  in  this  city.  Upon 
that  magnificent  site  the  University  of  Chicago  now  stands.  Dr. 
Burroughs  was  elected  its  President  in  1856.  He  saw  the  magnitude  of 
the  opening,  and  went  to  work  with  all  his  soul  to  take  advantage  of  it. 
At  the  sacrifice  of  his  personal  comfort  and  pecuniary  affairs,  he  harnessed 
himself  to  the  project  of  building  the  edifice  and  organizing  the  school. 
To  this  he  has  given  ten  years  of  his  prime,  and  now  has  the  satisfiction 
of  seeing  the  work  of  his  hands  thoroughly  established.  The  story  of 
these  ten  years  is  a  narrative  of  unrequited  toil,  of  multifarious  labors, 
and  of  brave  grappling  with  cumulative  obstacles,  such  as  is  rarely  put 
into  print. 

The  commanding  position  which  the  University  has  reached  in  the 
educational  world,  and  the  pride  it  has  excited  throughout  the  West,  may 
juvStly  be  attributed  as  much  to  the  guardianship  and  management  of  its 
President  as  to  any  other  cause,  perhaps  to  all  other  causes  combined. 
We  may  not  dwell  upon  this  capstone  work  of  his  life.  Should  he 
live  a  hundred  years  he  will  not  do  a  greater.     He  has  built  his  own 


JOHN    C.    HFRRorOHS.  589 

monument.  Few  men,  livinj;-  or  (lend,  li:ive  one  cijiial  tn  il  in  m.'i'iiiiliidc, 
in  inHuenee  and  in  durahility. 

In  18o(j,  he  received  the  tith'  (A'  J)irinlf(iti,'<  Jhdor  iVoiii  (he  ITnivei-.-iity 
of"  Koeht'ster. 

As  a  teacher  of  metaphysics,  tlie  hrancli  wliich  is  covered  by  his  chair, 
President  Burroughs  has  tlie  faculty  of  nMiderino-  tliis  abstruse  science 
pleasing  and  attractive  to  the  i)upil.  The  teacher's  enthusiasm  is  imparled 
to  the  student.  "  The  chair"  is  ardently  eidisted  un  the  side  oi"  which 
the  late  Sir  AVilliam  Hamilton  was  the  recognized  head,  and  no  j)ains  are 
spared  to  support  the  i)ositions  of  tin's  school  with  persuasive  reasoning 
and  careful  logic. 

Although  not  yet  quite  fifty  years  of  age.  Dr.  Jiurroughs  w(>ars  the 
marks  of  an  older  man.  jMucIi  serving  has  left  its  traces,  and  as  vou 
look  upon  his  countenance  you  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  he  has  heen 
troubled  about  many  tilings  for  many  years.  Wisliing  him  back  the  flesh 
and  strength  he  has  lost  in  the  service  of  his  fellows,  and  i)raying  that  he 
may  live  without  vexation  the  remainder  of  his  days,  we  take  our  leave 
of  him  and  of  this  scanty  sketch  of  his  laborious  and  useful  life. 


CHAUNCEY  T.  BOWEN. 


The  Chicago  of  twenty  years  ago  was  hardly  more  than  a  thrifty 
village.  So  late  as  1850  its  population  was  less  than  thirty  thousand,  and 
it  had  only  forty  miles  of  railway.  The  business  transacted  here  then  was 
almost  wholly  confined  to  the  retail  trade,  except  in  the  item  of  grain, 
which  was  even  then  handled  in  immense  quantities.  Galena,  now  a  town 
of  no  commercial  importance  whatever,  claimed  to  be  the  future  metropolis 
of  the  Northwest,  and  boasted  that  the  railway  projected  by  the  genius 
and  enterprise  of  Chicago,  and  destined  to  pass  through  that  place  on  its 
way  to  the  Mississippi,  would  prove  more  beneficial  to  itself  than  to  this 
city.  Peoria  and  Milwaukee  were  at  that  time  uo  mean  rivals,  at  least  in 
pretensions,  and  even  Racine  and  Kenosha  thought  to  compete  with 
Chicago.  Each  had  certain  advantages  which  were  put  forward  as  good 
and  sufficient  reasons  why  it  should  outstrip,  as  a  commercial  ])oint,  all 
competitors.  ^Is  for  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Buffalo  and  Louisville,  they 
would,  no  longer  than  twenty  years  ago,  have  deemed  it  sheer  madness  to 
have  predicted  that  before  two  decades  this  city  would  excel  them  all  in 
everything  constituting  metropolitan  greatness.  Yet  such  has  proved  to 
be  the  case. 

The  causes  which  conspired  to  make  Chicago  flourish  beyond  all 
precedent  are  many.  Nature  evidently  designed  it  for  the  Capital  of  the 
Interior,  and  in  every  department  its  citizens  developed  unecjualed  enter- 
prise and  forethought.  Many  evidences  of  the  business  sagacity  of  that 
early  period  might  be  given,  but  we  content  ourselves  by  referring  to  one, 
a  man  whose  name  stands  prominent  among  those  pioneers  who  did  so 
much  towards  breaking  down  the  old  fogy  system  of  doing  business 
which  prev^ailed  at  that  time.     This  honored  name  our  early  settlers  will 


592  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

well  remember,  in  connection  with  the  establishment  of  "The  People's 
Cheap  Store"  in  our  city. 

Mr.  N.  H.  Wood,  wo  believe,  was  the  first  to  introduce  into  Chicago 
the  system  of  trading  on  strictly  cash  principles.  Hitherto,  the  universal 
practice  had  been  to  buy  and  sell  on  credit.  Months  would  intervene 
between  the  purchase  of  goods  and  the  payment  for  them.  Indeed,  it  Avas 
no  uncommon  thing  for  a  customer  to  Avait  a  full  year  before  jjaying,  and 
not  unfrequently  the  account  would  go  unsettled  much  longer.  The  credit 
system  prevailed  the  country  over,  but  for  some  reason  the  West  was 
proverbially  slow.  The  inevitable  result  of  this  long-time  system  was, 
that  enormous  profits  were  charged,  sufficient  to  cover  the  length  of  time 
and  risk  run  by  the  soller.  The  casli  plan,  adopted  and  rigidly  adhered  to 
by  Mr.  Wood,  enabled  him  to  offer  his  goods  at  greatly  reduced  prices; 
consequently,  the  fame  of  "The  People's  Cheap  Cash  Store"  soon  extended 
throughout  the  country,  and  every  man  who  had  the  ready  money  was 
sure  to  go  there  for  his  goods.  The  new  system  thus  inaugurated  gained 
in  favor  among  mercantile  men  and  their  customers,  until  what  was 
twenty  years  ago  peculiar  to  one  store  has  become  common  to  the 
whole  city. 

In  July,  1849,  when  only  a  lad  of  seventeen  summers,  Chauncey  T. 
BowEX,  a  member  of  the  house  of  Bowen  Brothers,  entered  the  employ  of 
Mr.  Wood.  Although  so  young,  he  in  a  few  months  became  the  real  head 
of  the  establishment — the  youth  thus  giving  promise  of  the  man.  And 
from  a  penniless  clerk,  a  stranger,  from  what  was  then  a  far  country,  he 
soon  advanced  to  the  front  rank  amouir  the  business  men  of  Chicao;o,  and 
for  years  has  been  accounted  one  of  the  leading  men,  not  only  of  this  city, 
but  of  the  West. 

Mr.  Bowen  was  born  in  the  town  of  Manheim,  Herkimer  County, 
New  York,  August  15,  1832.  His  parents,  Stephen  and  Lucinda  Bowen, 
were  highly  res])ectable  members  of  a  society  almost  wholly  composed 
of  farmers.  The  family  consisted  of  two  daughters,  Elmina  and  Mary, 
and  six  sons,  James  H.,  Truman  H.,  Asa  C,  George  S.,  Chauncey  T., 
and  Allison  R.,  all  of  whom  still  survive,  except  the  youngest,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  a  youth  of  extraordinary  promise.  The  one 
grand  aim  and  ambition  of  the  parents  Avas  not,  as  is  too  often  the  case, 
to  add  acre  to  acre,  and  leave  a  goodly  inheritance  to  their  heirs,  but 
rather  to  give  each  son  a  good  business  education.  Habits  of  industry, 
probity,  prudence  and  forethought  were  cultivated  in  them,  and,  we  may 


CHAUNCEY  T.   HOWEN.  593 

add,  none  disappointed  their  hopes,  while  more  than  one  went  far  beyond 
tlieir  most  sanguine  expectations. 

At  tlie  age  of  twelve,  which  is  the  beginning  of  the  perilous  transition 
from  boyiiood  to  youth,  young  Cluiuncey  left  his  parental  home  to  attend 
school  in  Fairfield,  an  adjoining  town,  where  he  remained  one  term.    This 
completed  his  school  days.     Returning  home,  he  spent  a  few  months  at 
the  homestead,   the  last  of  his  out-door  life,  and  then  entered  the  store 
of  his  brother  James  H.,  in  Antwerp,  Jeti'erson  County,  New  York.     He 
remained  there  one  year  and  a  half     We  next  find  him  a  clerk  in  a  store 
at  Little  Falls,  a  village  in  his  native  county,  remaining  one  year.     From 
there,  our  future   merchant  came  to  Chicago,  and  now  it  was  that  the 
foundation  of  his  life-work  was  laid.     He  came  here  to  enter  the  service 
of  Mr.   ^yood,  whom  we    have   already   mentioned.      Ills    j)arents  were 
naturally  very  reluctant  to  have  the  youiigest  of  their  surviving  sons,  the 
"Benjamin"  of  their  old  age,  go  so  far  from  home,  and,  while  yet  on  the 
threshhold  of  youth,  enter  the  vortex  of  what  was  then  a  frontier  city,  and, 
like  all  other  towns,  full  of  the  pitfalls  and  gins  which  prove  the  ruin  of 
so  many  young  men  of  promise ;  but,  after  mature  consideration,  they 
gave  their  consent.     Never  was  an  employe  better  suited  for  his  position, 
and  the  duties  which  devolved  upon  him  were  admirably  adapted  to  fit 
him  for  the  part  he  was  afterwards  to  sustain  in  the  commercial  develop- 
ment of  this  city  and  the  Northwest.     Before  he  had  been  in  Mr.  Wood's 
employ  three  months,  he  was  placed  at  the   head  of  the  establishment. 
The  proprietor  was  absent  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  and  the  whole 
responsibility  rested  upon  the  shoulders  of  young  Bowen.     He  gave  his 
personal  attention  to  every  department  of  the  business.     He  was  at  once 
cashier,  bookkeeper  and  head  salesman ;  the  first  man  at  the  store  in  the 
morning,  and  the  last  to  leave   it  at  night.     But  his   labors  were   not 
confined  to  the  counter  and   the  desk.     Not  content  with   seeing  that 
customers  were  well  served  and  books  accurately  kept,  he  added  largely 
to  the  custom  of  the  establishment  by  pursuing  a  system  of  advertising  and 
"drumming"  peculiarly  adapted  to  these  pioneer  days.     At  that  time  it 
was  the  custom  of  the  farmers  from  the  country  round  to  come  to  Chicago 
with  their  produce,  and  camp  out  for  the  night  in  what  was  then  the 
Houthern  suburbs  of  the  town,  in  the  vicinity  of  Eighteenth  street,  and  it 
was  jNIr.  Bowen's  practice,  mornings,  before  it  was  time  for  trade,  to  go 
the  rounds  of  the  camp  and  distribute  advertising  circulars  among   the 
campers,    setting   forth    the   superior    inducements    of    "  The    People's 


594  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Cheap  Store."  Not  content  with  merely  scattering  these,  he  "would,  by 
a  few  words  fitly  spoken,  win  upon  their  personal  favor.  In  that  way 
he  became  widely  and  always  favorably  known  to  a  large  circle  of 
customers,  whose  trade  added  materially  to  the  profits  of  his  employers. 
The  personal  popularity  of  young  Boweu  was  very  great.  The  farmers 
liked  to  trade  with  him  better  than  with  a  kid-glove  counter-jumper,  who 
fancies  the  condition  of  mercantile  success  is  good  clothes  and  fastidious 
drawing-room  manners.  And  we  may  add  that  the  same  good  sense 
which  characterized  Mr.  Bowen  then,  has  ever  since.  Not  only  so,  but 
he  has  been  careful  to  surround  himself  with  associates  and  assistance 
similar  in  character.  At  this  day  there  is  no  one  connected  with  his 
establishment,  from  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  to  the  porters,  who 
does  not  by  his  works  show  his  faith  in  tlie  dignity  of  labor,  of  whatever 
kind. 

Mr.  Bowen's  theory  in  regard  to  advertising  was  then,  and  always  has 
been,  that  no  promises  in  regard  to  quality  of  goods  or  their  price  should 
be  made  that  he  could  not  fulfil.  Enterprise  may  reap  an  ephemeral 
reward,  even  when  dishonest;  but  great,  lasting  success  is  conditioned  on 
probity. 

Mr.  Wood  was  not  slow  to  testify  his  appreciation  of  these  services. 
The  salary  for  the  first  year  had  been  fixed  at  two  hundred  dollars,  but  at 
the  end  of  the  year  Mr.  Bowen  found  six  hundred  dollars  credited  to  his 
account,  without  anything  having  been  said  by  eitlier  party  ujjon  the 
subject.  At  the  same  time  his  salary  was,  without  solicitation,  raised  to 
one  thousand  dollars.  Tliis  was  nobly  generous  of  Mr.  Wood.  Yet  he 
could  richly  afford  to  do  it,  for  the  young  man's  services,  even  tlien,  were 
remarkalily  cheap,  considering  the  amount  and  kind  of  service  rendered. 

In  1853,  Mr.  Wood  retired  from  business.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Mills,  Bowen  &  Dillingbeck.  The  members  of  the  firm  were  D.  H.  Mills, 
George  S.  Bowen,  Chauncey  T.  Bowen  and  Stephen  Dillingbeck.  The 
business  continued  to  be  conducted  on  the  same  plan  as  before,  only  on  a 
much  larger  scale,  and  even  more  profitably.  This  firni  was,  in  1856, 
succeeded  by  the  famous  house  of  Bowen  Brothers,  of  which  George  S. 
and  Chauncey  T.  were  the  co-partners.  In  July,  1857,  their  oldest 
brother,  James  H.  Bowen,  came  on  from  Albany,  New  York,  and  joined 
them. 

The  business  of  this  house  during  the  last  ten  years  has  been  immense. 
There  is    not  a   merchant   in  the  West  who  has    not  heard   of  Bowen 


CHAUNCEY  T.   BOWEN.  595 

Brotliers,  and  the  majority  of  thoso  wlio  have  been  in  trade  any  length  of 
time  have  doubtle.ss  had  more  or  less  dealings  witii  them.  The  enviable 
rej)ntation  of  Chicago  as  a  eentre  for  wholesale  snpplies  is  largely  due  to 
the  enterprise  and  scrupulous  honesty  of  this  house.  Its  sales  lor  the  last 
three  years  amounted  to  more  than  fifteen  million  dollars,  Neither 
Sr.  Louis  nor  Cini-innati^  cities  whicii  once  looked  down  in  disdain  upon 
Chicago,  has  a  house  that  can  make  any  such  showing  into  several 
millions.  About  a  year  ago  the  lirm  of  Bowen  Bros,  retired  from 
business,  and  erected  one  of  the  finest  mercantile  blocks  in  the  city,  Jt 
contains  five  stores,  and  is  admitted  to  be  superior  to  any  business  block 
yet  built  in  Chicago, 

]Mr.  Chauncey  T.  Bowen  was  married  at  Watertown,  in  18G1,  to 
Miss  Theresa  S.  Dewey,  daughter  of  the  late  Dr,  Dewey,  of  Antwer]), 
New  York.  Their  only  child,  Frederick  C,  Bowen,  a  lovely  little 
fellow  of  unusual  promise,  was  killed  by  a  fall  when  in  the  sixth 
year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Bowen  is  a  member  of  Graee  (Episcopal)  Church, 
Although  ardently  devoted  to  his  communion,  he  is  liberal  in  his  views, 
beautifully  exemplifying  the  matchless  sentiment  of  the  lamented  Lincoln 
— ''Malice  toward  none,  charity  toward  all," 

It  may  be  said  of  riches  as  Shakspeare  says  of  greatness,  "  some  men 
are  born  to  it,  some  achieve  it,  others  have  it  thrust  upon  them,"  Mr, 
Bowen  belongs  to  the  second  class,  his  success  being  the  reward  of 
industr}',  integrity  and  enterprise. 


MARK  SKINNER. 


Hox.  Mark  Skixner,  avIio  has  been  identified  Avitli  the  interests  of 
Chica<>:o  since  a  very  early  day  in  its  liistory,  and  has  contributed  in  no 
inconsiderable  degree  to  its  material  prosperity  and  present  advancement, 
was  born  at  Manchester,  Vermont,  September  13,  1813.  His  family 
connections  date  back  to  the  very  earliest  days  of  New  England  liistory, 
and,  upon  the  maternal  side,  througli  the  Pierpoints,  he  is  connected  with 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  lanious  of  the  great  historic  families  of 
England.  His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Robert  Pierpoint,  and  a  double 
cousin  of  John  Pierpoint,  the  poet,  recently  deceased.  His  father,  Richard 
Skinner,  was  a  man  of  eminence,  distinguished  alike  for  his  legal  and 
political  abilities,  whose  name  is  prominent  in  the  history  of  Vermont, 
having  held  the  various  offices  of  State's  Attorney  for  the  county  of 
Bennington,  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  northern  district  of  the  same  county, 
]Member  of  the  Legislature,  Governor  of  the  State,  ^Member  of  Congress, 
and  for  many  years  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  Such 
was  the  respect  M'ith  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  people  of  Vermont, 
that  the  tenure  of  these  various  offices  was  literally  at  his  own  option,  and 
limited,  almost  invariably,  by  personal  declination,  after  successive  terms 
in  each. 

The  son  fitted  himself  for  college,  principally  under  the  tuition  of  the 
eminent  Professor  Dewey,  at  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  then,  as  now, 
celebrated  for  its  educational  advantages.  He  entered  the  University  of 
Vermont,  at  Middlebury,  in  1830,  and  graduated  in  1833,  having 
matriculated  in  advance  of  his  cla.ss.  Inheriting  from  his  Hither  a 
predilection  for  the  law,  immediately  upon  his  graduation  he  marked  out 
for  himself  the  same  professional  course  which  his  father  had  pursued  with 


598  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

such  marked  success,  and  from  1833  to  1836,  studied  Ids  profession,  at 
Saratoga  Springs,  with  Judge  Ezek  Cowen,  the  eminent  jurist  and  author, 
and  Nicholas  Hill,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  lawyers  in  the  annals  of 
the  New  York  bar.  One  year  of  the  three  was  spent  at  the  New  Haven 
Law  School,  attached  to  Yale  College,  under  the  instruction  of  Judges 
Dagget  and  Hitchcock.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  study,  he  ^\•as 
contemplating  a  co-partnership  with  INIr.  Hill,  but  tempting  pecuniary 
affairs,  with  other  circumstances,  combined  to  change  these  plans,  and  his 
attention  was  drawn  westward  to  the  young  city  of  Chicago,  which  was 
just  beginning  to  be  the  centre  of  attraction,  and  was  offering  unusual 
inducements  to  young  men  of  energy  and  enterprise,  and  the  resolution 
was  speedily  formed  to  identify  himself  with  the  new  place  and  grow  with 
its  growth. 

He  came  to  Chicago  in  July,  1836,  cotemporary  with  a  large  circle 
of  young  men,  who  have  given  their  best  energies  to  the  advancement  of 
the  city,  and  are  now  among  its  most  prominent  and  honored  citizens.  Pie 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Illinois  immediately  upon  his  arrival,  and 
entered  upon  the  active  practice  of  the  law  in  the  autumn  of  that  year, 
associated  with  George  A.  O.  Beaumont,  Esq.,  as  partner.  In  1839-'40, 
during  the  mayoralty  of  Alexander  Loyd,  Esq.,  he  was  elected  City 
Attorney,  and  transacted  the  law  business  of  the  city  with  eminent 
success.  His  fixed  purposes  of  character,  strong  moral  resolution,  and  his 
native  energy — although  he  was  always  compelled  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  to  contend  against  physical  infirmity — not  only  combined  to  insure 
hini  success  in  his  profession,  but  gave  him  a  leading  position  as  a  straight- 
forward, reliable  member  of  the  Democratic  party — for  ]Mr.  Skinner  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  ever  been  a  professional  politician.  Whatever 
political  preferments  he  obtained  rather  came  to  him  directly  from  the 
people  than  he  to  it,  for  politics,  as  a  profession,  were  distasteful  to  him. 
He  was  Master  in  Chancery  for  Cook  County  for  many  years,  but  his  first 
purely  political  appointment  was  that  of  United  States  District  Attorney, 
by  President  Tyler,  to  succeed  Hon.  Justin  Buttcrfield,  the  district  then 
embracing  the  entire  State.  Having  held  the  office  and  familiarized 
himself  with  its  routine  of  duties,  it  was  only  natural  that  he  should 
desire  to  retain  it,  and  when  Mr.  Polk's  Administration  came  in,  he  sought 
a  second  term,  his  claim  being  contested  by  Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold.  The 
contest  between  the  two  applicants  was  a  very  protracted  and  animated 
one — so  animated,  indeed,  that  a  compromise  was  effected  by  conferring 


MARK   SKINNER.  599 

the  office  u[)Oii  a  third  ])ai(y — hut  the  striiizi^h'  liad  -iivcii  Mr.  Skiinicr  a 
sitisfactorv  view  (A'  the  (Icscciit.s  a  man  iniist  make  to  ohlaiii  the  Fi'dcnil 
patronage,  and  lie  resolved  that  this  struggle  for  Federal  offiee  should  he 
his  last.  It  was  just  prior  to  his  appointment  to  the  office  of  District 
Attorney,  that  he  assisted  Mr.  JJutterlield  in  the  prosecution  of  Charles 
Chapman,  u[)()n  the  charge  of  perjury,  in  an  application  for  bankru[)tcy. 
The  case  is  u  particularly  noticeable  one,  and  belongs  to  the  causes  celcbres 
of  this  country,  as  being  the  only  conviction  in  the  ITnited  States  under 
the  old  Bankrupt  Law. 

Mr.  Skinner  was  elected  a  mendjcr  of  the  Legislature  in  LSKJ,  the 
session  being  held  from  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1846,  until  March 
1,  1847.  He  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  at  that 
time  the  most  important  committee  in  the  House.  During  the  time  that 
he  occujiied  this  position,  he  drew  up  and  procured  the  passage  through 
the  House  of  a  bill  re-funding  the  State  debt — a  bill  which  was  far- 
reaching  in  its  influence  upon  the  finances  of  the  State.  It  reduced  all  the 
multiplied  forms  of  State  indebtedness — there  being  six  or  eight  difierent 
styles  of  State  bonds — into  the  present  convenient  and  manageable  shape, 
ascertained  the  limit  of  the  debt,  and  effectually  cut  off  the  possibility  of 
frauds  in  emitting  new  and  unauthorized  issues  of  bonds.  In  fact,  the 
bill  evoked  method  and  system  out  of  financial  chaos,  brought  the  debt 
of  the  State  into  an  intelligible  condition,  and,  correspondingly,  placed  its 
credit  upon  a  healthy  basis.  This  session  was  also  memorable  as  the  one 
calling  the  State  Convention  which  formed  the  present  State  Constitution. 
Upon  the  question  of  apportionment  of  delegates  to  this  Convention, 
Northern  and  Southern  Illinois  were  arrayed  against  each  other.  The 
southern  members  claimed  that  the  apportionment  should  be  made  upon 
tiie  basis  of  the  census  of  1840,  which  would  have  given  their  section — 
that  is,  the  counties  south  of  Springfield — the  majority  in  the  Convention; 
and,  vice  versa,  the  northern  members  claimed  that  it  should  be  made 
upon  the  basis  of  the  census  of  1845,  which,  in  turn.  Mould  have  given  the 
northern  counties  the  majority.  As  the  construction  of  the  phraseology 
of  the  old  Constitution  could  be  made  favorable  to  either  si(l(>,  the  contest 
was  naturally  a  very  excited  and  bitter  one.  The  champiimship  ^A'  the 
northern  side  of  the  question  in  the  House,  by  tacit  consent,  devolved 
Tq)on  Mr.  Skinner,  and,  after  a  long  struggle,  his  energy  and  excellent 
management  carried  the  day.  At  this  session,  also,  Mr.  Skinner's 
influence  was  felt  in  the  i)assage  of  the  measure  to  recommence  a  partial 


600  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

payment  of  the  interest  on  the  State  indebtedness,  which  up  to  that  time 
had  been  in  default  for  many  years,  and  a  disposition  to  repudiate,  wliich 
had  long  been  manifest  in  some  quarters,  thereby  giving  the  State  credit 
a  very  unfavorable  reputation  at  the  great  financial  centres  of  the  couniry. 
It  was  this  same  question  of  the  State  debt  which  gave  interest  to  the 
sectional  contest  on  the  apportionment  of  delegates  to  the  State  Con- 
vention, and  entailed  upon  this  apportionment  the  most  important 
financial  results;  for,  hoAvever  the  southern  counties  might  stand  upon 
the  question  of  payment  of  the  debt — and  there  were  grave  fears  as  to 
their  attitude — it  was  very  well  known  that  the  northern  counties  were 
unanimously  in  favor  of  paying  the  interest  in  full,  and.  of  liquidating 
the  principal  at  maturity,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  the  condition  of  the 
State  finances  would  admit. 

In  1851,  Mr.  Skinner  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Cook  County  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  now  the  Superior  Court  of  the  City  of  Chicago,  over 
Hon.  John  J\I.  Wilson,  the  opposition  candidate,  and  declined  a  re-election 
in  1853,  on  account  of  ill-health.  Tlie  labors  of  the  bench  at  that  time 
were  almost  insupportable,  especially  in  a  case  of  physical  infirmity. 
Mr.  Skinner  was  the  sole  Judge  of  the  Court,  and  practically  did  the 
business  appertaining  to  the  higher  courts  of  the  county  at  that  time,  the 
Circuit  Court  holding  but  two  short  terms  annually,  and  tlie  Recorder's 
Court  not  yet  being  in  existence.  All  the  criminal  and  nine-tenths  of  the 
civil  business  of  the  county  was  transacted  in  this  Court,  and  imposed  a 
burden  of  care  and  responsibility  which  was  almost  intolerable.  The 
Recorder's  Court  was  established  in  1853,  thereby  relieving  the  Common 
Pleas  of  the  larger  part  of  the  criminal  docket,  and  the  subsequent 
modification  of  the  Court,  and  the  change  in  the  terms  of  the  Circuit 
Court,  made  the  position  not  only  much  more  endurable  as  regards  actual 
labor,  but  infinitely  more  desirable  in  the  matter  of  compensation. 

The  same  cause  which  led  Judge  Skinner  to  decline  re-election  to  the 
bench  operated  to  prevent  him  from  resuming  the  general  practice  of  iiis 
profession,  and  induced  him  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  management  of 
large  financial  operations,  which  have  mainly  occupied  his  time  from  tliut 
day  to  the  present.  His  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  law,  as  it  applies 
to  real  estate,  and  his  accurate  and  clear  financial  ability^  peculiarly  fitted 
him  for  the  successful  management  of  such  a  business.  Probably  no 
person  in  the  State  has  invested  for  non-resident  capitalists  anything  like 
the  aggregate  of  money  that  has  passed  through  the  hands  of  Judge 


MARK   SKINNER.  601 

Skinner;  and,  in  individual  instanocs,  sinudo  stuns,  i-ani;-int^  all  the  way 
from  five  thousand  to  four  hnndrcd  tlionsand  dollars,  have  been  Inuncd. 
Thus,  primarily,  much  of  the  pro<;ress  of  Chicago  has  been  insured,  and 
very  many  of  the  most  elegant  blocks  and  residences  now  ornamentin;^ 
the  city  and  in  process  of  erection,  have  been  made  possible  by  his 
financial  connections. 

We  come  now  to  another  phase  of  Judge  Skinner's  life,  impersonal  in 
its  results,  but  one  of  the  most  important  in  his  career  as  a  public  citizen. 
We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  organization  of  the  Northwestern  Sanitary 
Commission,  the  wide  scope  of  its  labors,  or  the  triumphant  success  that 
crowned  all  its  operations,  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers  in  field,  camp  and 
hospital.  The  story  is  as  familiar  and  as  dear  to  the  public  as  a  household 
word.  We  shall,  therefore,  only  allude  to  it,  as  far  as  the  purposes  of  this 
biography  demand. 

On  the  ninth  of  January,  1861,  the  Secretary  of  AVar  issued  an  order, 
appointing  certain  gentlemen  "a  Commission  of  Inquiry  and  Advice  in 
respect  of  the  Sanitary  Interests  of  the  United  States  Forces."  Four 
prominent  citizens  of  Chicago  were  named  by  this  Commission  to  be 
associate  members,  but  it  soon  appeared  that  they  were  unable,  on  account 
of  professional  engagements,  to  bestow  the  recpiisite  time  and  attention 
upon  sanitary  duties.  At  this  juncture,  Dr.  J.  S.  Newbury,  "Associate 
Secretary  for  the  West,"  arrived  in  Chicago  and  endeavored  to  organize 
the  associate  members  into  a  Branch  Commission,  but  this  project  also 
failed,  for  similar  reasons.  Subsecpiently,  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  called 
l)y  E.  W.  Blatchford,  Esq.,  the  associate  members  appointed  by  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission  publicly  resigned  their  positions,  and  all 
present  united  in  choosing  "a  Committee  of  Seven,  to  constitute  the 
Sanitary  Commission  of  Chicago."  The  committee  was  composed  of  the 
following  gentlemen :  Hon.  Mark  Skinner,  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  I).  D., 
Rev.  O.  H.  Tiffany,  D.  D.,  E.  W.  Blatchford,  Esq.,  Ralph  N.  Isham,  :M. 
D.,  Col.  J.  D.  Foster,  and  James  Ward,  Esq.  On  the  same  evening,  the 
Committee  went  into  session  and  effected  an  organization,  by  electing  lion. 
Mark  Skinner,  President;  Rev.  O.  H.  Tillluiy,  D.  D.,  Vice  President; 
and  E.  W.  Blatchford,  Esq.,  Corresponding  Secretary.  Thus  the  "  Chicago 
Sanitary  Commission,"  afterwards,  when  it  had  grown  from  a  local  to  a 
general  organization,  styled  the  "Northwestern  Sanitary  Commission," 
had  its  origin.  ]Mr.  Skinner  held  this  responsible  position  until  lh<'  early 
part  of  1864,   performing  all   the  arduous  and   exacting  duties  of  his 


602  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

position  without  any  pecuniary  compensation,  direct  or  indirect,  when  he 
was  obliged  to  resign  on  account  of  a  dangerous  and  protracted  attack  of 
typhoid  fever.  During  this  time,  although  aided  by  a  most  competent  and 
efficient  board,  he  gave  his  attention  and  labor  to  the  devising  of  i)lans, 
organization  of  movements,  concentration  and  forwarding  of  supplies, 
without  stint,  and  a  success,  far  beyond  the  wildest  expectation,  crowned 
the  effi^rts  of  the  Commission.  It  was  Mr.  Skinner's  good  fortune,  also, 
to  find  and  call  to  the  great  work  those  remarkable  women,  Mrs.  Hoge 
and  INIrs.  Livermore,  whose  efficiency  in  carrying  out  the  plans  which  had 
been  adopted,  in  suggesting  and  prosecuting  to  success  wise  methods  of 
work,  and  in  appealing  successfully  to  the  people,  have  made  their  names 
fluniliar  in  every  household  throughout  the  entire  Northwest.  In  1862, 
Judo'c  Skinner  was  also  elected  a  member  of  the  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission,  and  remained  in  connection  with  it  during  its  existence. 
Indefatigable  and  useful  as  Judge  Skinner  has  been  in  various  departments 
of  public  service,  no  field  of  labor  has  redoundeil  more  to  his  credit,  or 
Avas  better  adapted  to  his  energy  and  ability,  than  that  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission ;  and  as  one  of  the  earliest  projectors  and  counselors  of  this 
great  auxiliary  to  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  without 
which  military  operations  would  scarcely  have  been  possible,  his  name 
will  always  hold  a  deserved  prominence.  But  it  was  not  al(_)ne  l)y  his 
labor  and  means  that  Judge  Skinner  contributed  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
war.  He  gave  to  the  cause  of  his  country  his  son,  Richard  Skinner,  a 
young  man  in  the  very  flower  of  youth,  of  great  literary  promise,  and  of 
admirable  personal  qualities.  Immediately  after  his  graduation  from  Yale 
College,  in  1862,  Richard  accepted  a  Second  Lieutenancy  in  the  regular 
army,  and  became  attached  to  the  Tenth  Infantry,  fie  served  with 
distinguished  success  at  Port  Royal,  was  thence  successively  transferred 
to  Davenport,  under  Brigadier-General  Roberts;  to  Milwaukee,  under 
General  Pope;  and  again,  under  General  Roberts,  to  New  Orleans, 
Matagorda  Bay,  and  Pass  Caballo.  Under  the  general  order  of  the  War 
Department,  he  rejoined  his  regiment,  in  1864,  at  Petersburg,  Virginia, 
and  fell,  mortally  wounded,  on  the  field  of  duty,  June  22d,  without  fear 
and  without  reproach.  In  college,  at  home,  and  in  service,  he  was  a 
universal  favorite.  He  was  a  young  man  of  remarkable  literary  accom- 
]>lishments,  of  spotless  character,  and  his  death  was  that  of  a  Christian 
soldier. 

Tliere  are  other  incidents  in  the  life  of  Juda;e  Skinner  which  we  must 


i 


MA  UK    SKIXNKI!.  00.'] 

necessarily  pass  over  in  ([iiiek  review,  Jle  has  always  hecii  a  warm  and 
jiulieious  friend  of  ediiciition,  and  served  as  a  nu'nil»er  of  tlu-  Jinanl  of 
School  Inspectoifs  for  many  years,  accoini>lishin<;  much  towards  tlu; 
present  excellence  of  our  school  system  by  his  saj^acious  advice  and 
practical  appreciation  of  the  cause.  In  view  of  his  services  in  this 
direction,  the  Skinner  School,  one  of  the  most  flourisliinj;  in  tlu'  city,  was 
named  for  him. 

He  has,  also,  furthered  the  c;iuse  of  many  private  enterprises,  and 
delivered  many  addresses  before  public  and  [)rivat«  bodies,  which  are 
worthy  of  more  attention  than  the  space  of  this  volume  allows.  Prominent 
among  these  addresses  is  one  delivered  in  1848,  before  the  New  England 
Society,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders,  and  which  wils  pui^lished  at 
the  request  of  a  large  number  of  citizens.  The  address  was  devoted  to  a 
vindication  of  the  character  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  in  close  historical 
study  of  the  subject,  in  clear,  convincing  argument,  and  eloquence  of 
diction,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  addresses  ever  delivered  in 
Chicago. 

In  the  organization  and  direction  of  charitable  institutions,  also.  Judge 
Skinner  has  always  been  prominent.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Chiciisfo  Reform  School,  and  was  made  first  President  of  the  Bc^ard  of 
Directors,  a  position  for  which  he  was  eminently  qualified,  and  wliich  he 
held  for  many  yeare.  To  the  organization  of  this  excellent  institution  he 
devoted  his  time  and  personal  attention  without  stint.  He  visited  and 
inspected  all  the  prominent  reformatory  institutions  of  the  Eastern  and 
Middle  States,  and  carefully  studied  the  documentary  records  of  similar 
schools  in  Ensland,  France  and  Germanv.  The  result  was  a  clear  con- 
victlon  that  the  family  system  of  reforming  juvenile  offenders  was  infinitely 
preferable  to  the  congregated  system  in  practice  in  this  counti-y.  He 
labored  zealously  to  effect  this  change,  and  finally  succeeded  in  grafting 
the  system  upon  our  own  institution.  The  ill-directed  efforts  of  an 
incompetent  Superintendent  had  brought  the  Reform  School  at  one  time 
to  a  very  low  ebb  of  usefulness,  if  not  to  the  verge  of  iailnre.  The  pros- 
pects of  the  School  were  very  dark,  but  Judge  Skinner,  aided  by  the  other 
guardians,  worked  on,  and  secured  the  present  efficient  Superinti'udent, 
George  W.  Perkins,  Esq.,  who  has  proved  himself  admiral)ly  (pialilied  to 
carry  <mt  the  family  system,  and  luis  succeeded  in  reeonstrneting  the 
institution  and  placing  it  upon  a  basis  of  enduring  usefnbie-s  ami  siieee-^s. 
The  result  of  Judire  Skinner's  labors  is  a  school  which  i-  (o-ilay  tlic  b  si  of 


I 


604  BIOGRAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

its  class  in  the  country.  With  all  local  movements  which  have  tended  to 
the  amelioration  of  any  class  of  the  community,  he  has  always  been  a 
friendly  counselor  and  warm  sympathizer. 

Judge  Skinner  has  also  been  actively  identified  with  the  railroad 
interests  of  Chicago,  and  by  his  clear  judgment  and  financial  ability  has 
done  much  to  perfect  that  great  system  of  transportation  and  travel  which, 
more  than  all  else,  has  conduced  to  give  Chicago  its  present  commercial 
greatness.  His  efforts  in  this  direction  were  more  especially  given  to  the 
old  Galena  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Roads,  in  each  of 
which  he  has  been  a  Director. 

He  was  married.  May  21,  1841,  to  Elizabeth  Magill  Williams,  and  _, 

has  had  six  children — Richard  and  Evelyn  Pierpoint  (deceased),  Elizabeth,  ', 

.        .  .  i 

Frances,  Frederika  and  Susan  Pierpoint.     In  1858,  he  identified  himself  j 

with  the  Second   Presbyterian   Church — having  been   a  member  of  the  j 

conoreffation  from  its  organization  in  1842 — and  was  a  member  of  the  first  | 

Board  of  Trustees,  and  a  few  years  since  became  one  of  the  officers  of  the  1 

church.     Although  in  no  sense  a  narrow  sectarian,  he  has  always  labored  'i 

for  the  success  of  the  church,  and  his  sphere  of  usefulness  in  this  direction 

has  been  a  very  wide  one.     In  all  his  relations  to  society,  both  as  a  jurist 

and  legislator,  in  business  and  as  a  promoter  of  the  general  good  of  the 

public,  he  has  l)een  what  so  few  become — a  useful  man.     In  his  business 

connections    with    Chicago,    he    has    substantially    advanced    tlie    best 

interests  of  the  city,  and  has  iileutified  himself  in  a  most  unmistakable 

manner  with  its  wonderful  growth.     Personally,  he  is  a  man  of  excellent 

literary  and  artistic  tastes,  of  unflinching  moral  purpose  and  inflexible 

honor,  simple  in  his  habits  and  retiring  in  his  disposition.     Judging  from 

the  daily  walk  of  his  life,   he    has  sought  rather  to  be  useful  to  his 

generation  than  to  advance  himself,  and  in  this  he  has  succeeded  to  a 

remarkable  degree. 


GEORGE  E.  SHIPMAN. 


None  of  the  learned  professions  are  better  represented  in  Chicago 
than  tlie  medical,  and  among  our  distinguished  physicians,  George  E. 
Shipmax,  M.  D.,  occupies  an  exalted  position,  both  as  a  practitioner  and 
a  medical  writer. 

Dr.  Shipman  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  March  4,  1820. 
His  father,  George  P.  Shipman,  was  a  Wall  street  banker,  distinguished 
alike  for  ability  and  probity.  Descended  from  Connecticut  Puritans,  he 
inherited  the  ancestral  foresight,  prudence,  enterprise  and  honesty  which 
made  New  England  the  moral  and  intellectual  paradise  of  the  world. 
The  spirit  of  the  bold,  adventurous  Normans,  and  of  the  upright,  all- 
enduring  Saxons,  pervaded  the  Puritan  Fathers,  among  whom  Mere  the 
Shipmans  of  Saybrook,  Connecticut:  and  their  children  have  ]on<>-  been 
and  are  now,  among  the  foremost  of  the  money  kings  of  the  nation's 
financial  centre.  The  "Wall  street  of  fifty  years  ago  was  only  a  distant 
approximation  to  the  Wall  street  of  to-day;  but  even  when  Mr.  Georo-e 
P.  Shipman  was  one  of  its  "heavy"  men,  its  operations  were  vast,  and  its 
ramifications  extended  the  nation  over,  and  wherever,  in  fact,  American 
commerce  penetrated.  There  was  no  "gold  room"  nor  stock  boards; 
neither  was  a  banker  called  a  "bear"  if  he  tried  to  depress  the  market 
and  a  "bull"  if  he  took  the  opposite  tack;  but  the  banking  business 
required  as  much  talent  and  attention  then  as  now,  as  conditions  of 
success. 

Dr.  Shipman's  mother,  Eliza  Payson  Shipman,  M-as  a  rare  woman, 
every  way  worthy  her  husband.  She  wa.s  a  sister  of  Rev.  Dr.  Edward 
Payson,  the  eminent  divine,  Avhose  eloquence  and  ])iety  shed  such  lustre 
upon  the  New  England  pulpit  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century. 


606  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Strong  in  mind,  pure  in  spirit,  and  wholly  devoted  to  her  family,  Mrs. 
Shipman  made  her  home  at  once  delightful  and  ennobling.  Wealth  has 
its  dangers,  but  it  has  its  advantages  too,  if  only  its  possessors  know  how 
to  improve  them.  In  this  case,  both  flither  and  mother  appreciated  their 
obligations,  and  strove  with  unflagging  fidelity  to  discharge  them,  and 
the  son  of  their  love  and  their  pride  more  than  realized  their  aspirations. 

In  early  childhood.  Dr.  Shipman  was  not  considered  an  unusually 
promising  boy.  At  that  time  it  was  customary  to  begin  a  child's  educa- 
tion younger  than  at  the  present  day.  It  was  supposed  that  at  least  as 
soon  as  three  years  of  age,  it  should  commence;  but  Mr.  Shipman  and 
his  solicitous  wife  were  greatly  pained  to  find  their  son  had  no  aptitude 
whatever  for  learning.  Nothing  could  induce  him  to  turn  aside  from 
play  and  give  himself  to  study,  and  the  disheartened  parents  gave  it  up, 
resolved  to  let  the  boy  go  on  at  "  his  own  sweet  will,"  hoping  that  he 
would  eventually  think  better  of  his  primer.  Their  hopes  were  destined 
to  fruition  as  soon  as  a  child  ought  to  commence  study.  When  six  years 
of  age,  he  conceived  an  interest  in  his  "horn  book,"  and  in  the  almost 
incredibly  short  time  of  one  day  mastered  the  entire  alphabet.  From  that 
time  on  he  proved,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  his  delighted  parents,  to 
be  a  remarkably  good  scholar.  By  his  lack  of  precocity  he  unconsciously 
but  significantly  protested  against  the  now  exploded  fallacy  that  a  child 
should  pass  at  once  from  the  nursery  to  the  school-room.  A  brief  "  phiy- 
spell"  gives  strength  and  vigor  to  both  body  and  mind. 

At  the  early  age  of  thirteen,  young  Shipman  was  prepared  for  cuHege. 
He  had  made  himself  familiar  with  the  various  branches  of  a  good 
English  education,  and  with  the  rudiments  of  Latin,  Greek  and  mathe- 
matics. The  natural  sciences,  now  so  thoroughly  developed,  Averc  then 
but  dimly  apprehended  by  the  learned,  and  rarely  taught  to  the  ordinary 
scholar.  The  dead  languages,  which  form,  to  a  very  great  extent,  the 
basis  of  our  vernacular  tongue,  and  mathematics,  which  in  their  higher 
departments  seem  to  the  uninitiated  wholly  impracticable,  but  a  knowledge 
of  which  is  in  reality  indispensable  to  scientific  research  not  only,  but  to 
many  departments  of  our  work-day  civilization,  constituted,  at  that  time, 
a  liberal  education.  Into  these  mysteries  of  figures  and  angles,  of  conju- 
gations and  declensions,  our  student  continued  to  delve  almost  exclusively 
until,  in  his  fifteenth  year,  he  entered  Middlebury  College.  There,  among 
the  towering  peaks  of  old  Vermont,  he  remained  only  a  year  and  a  half, 
when  he  returned  to  his  native  city  to  complete  his  studies.     Middlebury 


GEORGE   E.   SHIPMAN.  G07 

was  at  tliat  time  in  a  very  lioun.sliing  eoiulitioii,  but  its  advantages  were 
fewer  and  inferior  to  those  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
which  our  boy-student  entered  as  a  sophomore.  Tliree  years  al'ttr  (18:}'Jj 
he  gracUiated  with  higli  honors. 

His  course  in  college  had  shown  him  to  be  comptteiit  to  adin-u  aiiv 
profession.  After  due  deliberation,  he  came  to  the  intelligent  and  lirm 
conviction  that  the  theory  and  })ractice  of  medicine  were  more  to  his  taste 
than  the  responsibilities,  great  to  awfulncss,  of  the  ministry,  or  the  contests 
of  the  court-room.  He  accordingly  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Post, 
a  distinguished  surgeon  of  New  York,  soon  after  graduation,  with  whom 
he  studied  four  years,  graduating  at  the  New  York  College  of  IMiysicians 
and  Surgeons,  in  1843,  thoroughly  prepared  to  enter  upon  the  j)ractice 
of  his  chosen  profession. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  youth  felt  the  burdens  ol'  manhood. 
Hitherto  he  had  lived  in  the  world  of  books,  and  all  his  wants  had  been 
supplied  by  parental  love.  "Things  provided,"  as  Mrs.  JJrowning  said 
of  Cowper,  "came  without  the  sweet  sense  of  providing."  But  now,  our 
young  doctor  resolved  to  enjoy  "the  glorious  privilege  of  being  inde- 
pendent." Where  to  do  this  was  a  question  of  grave  importance  and 
difficult  of  solution.  Had  he  chosen  to  have  remained  in  New  York, 
a  large  practice  would,  without  doubt,  have  soon  been  his;  but  for  him,  as 
for  so  many  other  enterprising  young  men,  the  West,  with  its  marvelous 
energies  and  undeveloped  resources,  had  prevailing  attractions.  After 
casting  about  and  balancing  the  advantages  of  different  localities,  he 
decided  to  make  Peoria,  in  this  State,  his  home. 

During  his  student  days,  Dr.  Shipman  gave  to  each  of  the  various 
medical  schools,  especially  the  allopathic  and  homoeopathic,  an  exhaustive 
examination.  After  learning  their  peculiarities,  theoretic  and  practical,  he 
heartily  endorsed  the  system  of  medical  practice  taught  by  llahncinanii. 
There  were  but  a  very  few  families  in  Peoria  at  that  time  who  prcliiTcd 
homoeopathy,  and  even  those  looked  with  suspicion  upon  the  cxtn-nK* 
youth  of  the  new  doctor  from  the  Empire  City;  but  he  met  witii  such 
good  success  in  his  practice  that  he  was  in  a  fair  way  to  overcome  all 
unfavorable  prejudice  and  secure  a  large  practice,  when  his  hcaltli  tailed. 
With  the  imprudence  of  zealous  youth,  he  had  overtasked  himself,  and  he 
was  now  obliged  to  abandon,  for  a  time,  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
removed  to  Andover,  Henry  County,  Illinois,  where  he  i)nrchascd  a  farm. 
Having  always  been  a  citizen — in  the  original  meaning  of  that  term — 


608  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

country  life  was  entirely  new  to  him.  The  freshman  year  of  his  college 
course  had  indeed  been  spent  in  a  rural  village,  but  absorbed  in  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge,  the  low  of  cattle  and  the  hum  of  trade  were  alike  unknown 
to  him.  Books  and  the  shadowy  past  were  his  surrounding.  But  now 
our  son  of  Galen  and  disciple  of  Hahnemann  tested  the  virtues  of  country 
living,  and  that,  too,  in  what  was  then  a  pioneer  settlement  on  the 
illimitable  prairie.  If  Yoltaire,  and  after  him  Buckle  and  Draper,  are 
rio-ht  in  their  theory  that  the  human  mind  and  heart  are  greatly  influenced, 
if  not  absolutely  controlled,  by  their  natural  surroundings,  then  Dr. 
Shipman's  ideas  and  sympathies  must  have  been  greatly  enlarged  by  his 
new  experience.  Instead  of  the  narrow,  crowded  streets  with  which  he 
had  always  been  familiar,  he  now  found  himself  almost  alone  on  a  track- 
less, if  not  boundless  sea  of  land.  But  even  there,  in  his  prairie  retreat, 
he  did  not  entirely  forego  the  practice  of  his  profession,  but  divided  his 
time  between  the  care  of  his  farm  and  his  patients,  gradually  regaining 
his  health  until  finally  he  became  more  robust  than  ever,  and  was 
prepared  to  resume  the  uninterrupted  practice  of  medicine. 

It  was  now,  1846,  that  his  real  life  work  commenced.  Finding  him- 
self able  to  endure  the  vicissitude  of  a  medical  practice,  and  aware  of  the 
immense  advantages  of  Chicago  over  any  other  western  city,  he  removed 
here,  a  stranger,  but  not  in  a  strange  land.  The  Chicago  of  twenty  years 
ago  was  an  indescribable,  yet  unmistakable,  blending  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  great  metropolis  where  his  youth  had  l)een  spent,  and  of  the  prairie 
from  which  he  at  that  time  parted.  He  soon  found  himself  quite  at  home 
among  the  people,  and  entered  upon  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  He 
was  not,  however,  destined  to  confine  all  his  time  to  the  healing  of  diseases. 
There  was  then  felt  by  all  the  physicians  of  the  homoeopathic  school  to  be 
a  pressing  demand  for  a  medical  journal  devoted  to  the  defense  and  pro- 
mulgation of  the  principles  of  Hahnemann,  and  the  ripe  scholarship  and 
marked  ability  of  Dr.  Shipman  pointed  him  out  as  pre-eminently  fitted  to 
edit  it.  Accordingly,  he  started,  in  1848,  the  "  Northwestern  Journal 
of  Homoeopathy."  This  he  continued  to  conduct  for  four  years,  making 
it  a  decided  success. 

In  the  year  1857,  the  Chicago  Hospital  was  founded.  The  allopathists 
claimed  that  it  should  be  under  their  exclusive  medical  control,  but  the 
City  Council  decided  to  give  a  part  of  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Homoeo- 
pathists.  This  occasioned,  in  some  circles,  no  little  censure.  Dr.  Shipman 
defended  the  action  of  the  Council  in  a  very  able  pamphlet,  entitled 


GEORGE   E.  SHIPMAN.  G09 

"Homoeopathy,  Allopathy,  and  tliu  City  Council,"  which  had  the  dosiml 
effect  of  puttmg  a  quietus  upon  tiic  opposition.  Again,  in  18G5,  In; 
published  a  pamphlet  somewhat  similar  in  character.  It  was  called 
"An  Appeal  to  Ca?sar."  In  this  he  discussed,  with  consummate  ability, 
the  question  whether  Homoeopath ists  can  rightfully  claim  the  title  of 
physicians. 

Dr.  Shipman  had  now  established  so  high  and  enviable  a  reputation  as 
a  medical  Avriter  that  the  AVesteru  Institute  of  Ilonucopathic  Physicians, 
at  its  meeting  in  May,  1865,  appointed  him  editor  of  a  new  quarterly,  to 
be  established  at  Chicago  under  the  name  of  "  The  United  States  Medical 
and  Surgical  Journal,"  which  position  he  still  occupies.  This  quarterly 
has  a  high  rank  among  the  strictly  professional  pcn-iodicals  of  the  country, 
and  reflects  credit  alike  upon  its  editor  and  medical  science  in  general. 
But  he  has  not,  as  a  writer,  confined  liimself  to  pamphlets  and  periodicals. 
In  1866,  he  published  a  work  on  domestic  medicine,  giving  the  use  of 
twenty-five  principal  remedies.  This  book,  "The  Ilonueopathic  Guide," 
met  a  want  quite  generally  felt,  more  especially  by  intelligent  families 
favorable  to  homoeoj^athic  practice,  and  the  sale  was  very  extensive.  It  is 
generally,  among  the  profession,  regarded  as  the  best  hand-book  of  the 
kind  in  print. 

On  the  2oth  of  April,  1845,  Dr.  Shipman  was  married,  in  New  Haven, 
to  Miss  Fanny  E.,  daughter  of  Rev.  William  J.  Boardman,  of  Northford, 
Connecticut.  They  have  eight  children,  six  girls  and  two  boys.  Into 
this  large  family  circle  the  messenger  of  death  has  never  entered. 

Dr.  Shipman  was  educated  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  to  which  he  still 
adheres,  but  is  very  far  removed  from  sectarian  bigotry,  and  has  no 
sympathy  with  the  absurd  notion  that  salvation  is  only  to  be  found  in  one 
particular  denomination.  Rightly  apprehending  the  great  end  and  aim 
of  life,  and  the  opportunities  afforded  by  his  profession,  he  has  made  it 
his  highest  and  constant  ambition  to  contribute  to  the  diffusion  of  medical 
truth  and  the  dispersion  of  the  clouds  of  error  and  bigotry  which  have 
been  alike  the  curse  of  the  medical  profession,  and,  through  it,  of  the 
general  public. 


POTTER  PALMER. 


Potter  Palmek,  the  first  merchant  j)riiice  of  Chicago,  is  a  native 
of  Albany  County,  New  York.  His  grandparents  moved  thither  at  an 
early  day  from  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts.  They  Avere  Quakers,  as 
were  most  of  the  old  families  of  that  once  important  seaport  town. 
During  the  Revolutionary  AV^ar  it  was  sacked  by  the  British,  the  ancestors 
of  Mr.  Palmer  bein<r  amono;  the  sufferers.  One  of  his  erandfathers  was 
a  mere  lad  at  the  time.  The  other  grandfather,  altliough  only  fifteen 
years  of  age,  enlisted  in  the  Army  of  Independence,  and  served  with 
honor  until  he  received  a  wound  that  made  him  a  cripple  for  life.  His 
father,  Benjamin  Palmer,  was  an  extensive  farmer.  He  died  in  1859, 
being  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  His  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Rebecca  Potter,  was  born  in  1793,  and  still  survives.  Both 
parents  were  members  of  the  Quaker  Society,  and  to  their  wise  and 
gentle,  yet  firm,  training  Mr.  Palmer  is  accustomed  to  attribute  his  success 
in  life.  More  austere  than  the  ]n*esent  standard  of  parental  discipline 
requires,  they  taught  him,  from  early  boyhood,  the  ju'^iousness  of  time, 
and  when  not  at  school  he  was  expected  to  be  at  work.  The  habit  of 
industry  thus  formed  he  lias  always  adhered  to,  and  it  has  enabled 
him,  in  after  life,  to  conduct  a  business  which  required  an  incredible 
amount  of  labor.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  permitted  to  ciioose  his 
occupation  for  life,  and,  having  long  cherished  a  preference  ibr  mercantile 
pursuits,  he  engaged  in  the  store  of  Hon.  Piatt  Adams,  in  Durham, 
Greene  County,  New  York,  as  a  cleric,  his  employer  being  both  banker 
and  merchant.  AV  ith  him  he  remained  tliree  years,  being,  (he  third  year, 
intrusted  with  the  entire  management  of  tiie  concern. 

Arriving  at  his  majority,  he  resolved  to  be  his  own  master  in  the  full 


612  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

sense  of  the  term,  and,  accordingly,  opened  a  store  at  Oneida,  New  York. 
He  remained  in  business  there  only  two  years  and  a  half.  Oneida  was  a 
thrifty  country  village,  but  to  a  young  man  of  Mr.  Palmer's  large  ideas  and 
rare  commercial  talent  it  offered  no  adequate  inducements  for  permanent 
settlement.  He  removed  to  Lockport,  a  much  larger  place,  but  continued 
there  only  one  year.  Believing  that  he  possessed  a  talent  to  manage  a 
larger  business  than  it  was  possible  to  do  here,  he  removed  to  Chicago, 
and  opened  a  dry  goods  store.  Commencing,  at  first,  on  a  moderate  scale, 
his  trade  steadily  and  rapidly  increased  until,  after  an  experience  of 
thirteen  years,  the  name  of  Potter  Palmer  became  familiar  to  the  entire 
trading  community  of  the  West. 

Mr.  Palmer  always  had  a  true  appreciation  of  the  commercial  facilities 
of  Chicago,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  incur  the  risk  demanded.  The  rise 
in  goods  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  war  found  him  with  a  full 
stock  on  hand;  and  here,  again,  his  far-seeing  judgment  enabled  him  to 
take,  at  its  ebb,  the  tide  that  led  on  to  greater  fortune,  and,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  he  continued  to  carry  immense  amounts  of  goods, 
both  here  and  in  New  York,  reaping  large  gains  from  every  advance, 
knowing  as  well  when  to  sell  as  when  to  buy.  After  having  accumulated 
a  princely  fortune,  he  retired  from  business  in  the  winter  of  18G5,  since 
which  time  he  has  resided  mainly  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

During  the  war,  Mr.  Palmer  was  unwavering  and  practical  in  his 
loyalty.  He  rendered  himself  specially  serviceable  to  the  Government  by 
loaning  it  large  amounts  of  money,  undeterred  by  api^rehension  of  failure 
or  repudiation,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  the  Government  was  in  his 
debt  to  the  extent  of  over  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  dollars.  For  this 
he  deserves  the  lasting  gratitude  of  every  patriot. 

Since  retiring  from  mercantile  pursuits,  Mr.  Palmer  has  invested 
largely  in  real  estate  in  Chicago,  and  has  not  been  content  to  simply  make 
judicious  investments  and  then  wait  for  the  irresistible  and  rapid  growth 
of  the  city  to  enhance  the  value  of  his  property,  but  he  has  been,  and  at 
this  time  (1867)  is  still  expending  large  amounts  in  improvements.  The 
buildings  that  he  has  now  in  process  of  construction,  together  with  those 
completed  the  present  year,  will  cost  over  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  store  commenced  on  the  northeast  corner  of  State  and  Washington 
streets  is  to  be  six  stories  high,  four  stories  of  which  are  to  be  of  white 
marble  of  the  finest  quality,  from  the  celebrated  quarry  at  Canaan, 
Connecticut.     This  structure,  when  completed,  will  be  the  finest  building 


POTTER   PALMER.  613 

devoted  to  trade  in  the  United  Stiilcs.  As  an  ovidi'ucc  uf  tliis,  \vu  may 
state  that  tlie  marble  front  alone  will  cost,  delivcrt'd  here,  over  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  great  secret  of  Mr.  Palmer's  remarkable  success  is  to  be  attributed, 
in  part,  to  his  excellent  judgment  and  tireless  energy,  but  more  to  the 
iiict  that  he  has  always  been  strictly  honest  and  upright  iu  his  dealings. 
None  of  his  large  fortune  has  been  accumulated  at  the  expense  of  others; 
on  the  contrary,  many  are  largely  indebted  to  him  i'or  their  present 
prosperity,  while  the  city  in  which  he  accumulated  his  weallli,  as  iu  the 
past,  Avill  in  the  future  be  greatly  benefited  and  adorned  by  a  prolilie 
expenditure  of  the  large  capital  that  a  munificent  Providence  has  placed 
at  his  disposal. 


JOHK  B.  RICE. 


To  be  Mayor  of  Chicago  at  the  present  day  is  neither  a  trifling  honor 
nor  a  small  responsibility.  He  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  municipality 
— the  head  of  the  city  government — and  his  duties  are  as  multitudinous 
and  exacting  as  the  public  interests  of  the  community  arc  various  and 
important.  He  is  President  of  the  Common  Council,  the  executor  of  the 
orders  and  ordinances  it  enacts  for  the  government  of  the  city,  ami,  in 
fact,  the  general  superintendent  of  the  municipal  affairs,  in  their  several 
departments.  The  office  becomes  more  honorable,  and  its  duties  and 
responsibilities  more  grave,  as  the  city  grows  in  population,  in  extent,  and 
in  commercial  and  material  greatness,  and  hence  the  citizens  are  becoming 
more  circumspect  as  to  the  kind  of  man  they  select  for  Mayor.  Chicago 
has  had  nearly  or  quite  a  score  of  Mayors  since  its  incorporation  as  a  city, 
but  none  of  them  have  honored  the  office  more,  nor  have  had  more  of 
official  responsibility  imposed  upon  tliem,  than  the  gentleman  who  is  at 
present  at  the  head  of  the  city  government. 

John  Blake  Rice  is  a  Marylander  by  nativity.  He  was  l)orn  in  the 
village  of  Easton,  Talbot  County,  Maryland,  in  the  year  1809.  We  arc 
unable  to  learn  nnicli  of  his  career  in  youth,  or  in  early  manhood,  except 
that  he  became  an  actor  on  the  theatrical  stage,  and  was  as  successful  in 
his  profession  as  he  was  an  honorable  and  studious  member  of  it.  It  is 
sometimes  the  fact  that  a  profession  or  calling  dignifies  a  man,  but  some 
men  there  are  who  dignify  their  professions  by  becoming  ornaments 
therein.  It  is  so  of  the  histriojii(^  profession — one  of  the  most  intellectual 
and  ennobling  of  the  arts  to  those  who  truly  appreciate  its  objects  and 
purposes.  From  what  we  have  learned  of  those  who  had  an  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Rice  while  he  was  an  actor,  we  judge  that  lie  dignified  and 


616  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

honored  his  profession  by  careful  study,  diligent  endeavor,  and  faithful 
representation;  that,  in  his  vounger  years,  he  Avas  looked  upon  as  an 
ornament  in  the  higher  walks  of  dramatic  accomplishment ;  and  that  he 
%vas  then,  as  now,  noted  for  his  irreproachable  character  as  a  gentleman 
and  a  man  of  noble  impulses,  the  strictest  integrity,  and  a  remarkable 
degree  of  practical  common  sense. 

He  was  married  in  1837,  when  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  to  Miss  Mary  Ann  Warren,  daughter  of  William  Warren, 
deceased,  who  was  one  of  the  bright  lights  in  the  theatrical  world  of  those 
days,  having  been  manager  of  the  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Washington 
theatres,  from  1795  to  1826. 

Mr.  Rice  came  to  Chicago  in  1847,  and  built  a  theatre  on  Dearborn 
street,  between  Randolph  and  Washington  streets,  which  was  the  first 
really  pretentious  dramatic  establishment  in  the  city.  He  was  manager 
of  this  theatre  until  1857,  ten  years,  and  many  of  his  fellow-citizens  of 
those  days  can  recall  with  real  pleasure  the  admirable  entertainments  that 
were  given  in  that  quaint  l)ut  attractive  little  temple  of  art,  under  his 
careful  and  judicious  management.  It  was,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term, 
a  respectable  theatre,  for  no  man  in  the  world  reprobates  or  abhors  vulgarity 
or  low  life,  either  on  or  off  the  stage,  more  profoundly  tlian  does  ]Mr.  Rice. 
There  was  always  a  dignity  and  a  degree  of  respectability  about  his 
theatre,  plays  and  players,  that  did  not  then,  and  do  not  now,  characterize 
the  drama  as  a  rule. 

Mr.  Rice  was  as  successfid  pecuniarily  as  he  was  professionally,  and  in 
1857  he  closed  his  theatrical  career,  tore  down  his  old  theatre,  and  built 
in  its  place  a  brick  business  block,  which  still  graces  the  east  side  of 
Dearborn  street,  on  the  corner  of  Calhoun  Place.  He  invested  his  money 
M'isely,  and  among  other  property  that  he  had  purchased,  during  his 
theatrical  life,  was  the  ground  upon  which  now  stands  the  Crosby  Opera 
House,  which  he  sold  to  Mr.  Crosby  when  that  gentleman  selected  that  as 
the  site  for  his  great  temple  of  art.  He  still  owns  some  of  the  most 
valuable  real  estate  in  Chicago,  and  may  be  said  to  be  "  very  comfortably 
off,"  as  regards  worldly  possessions — the  result  of  industry,  economy,  and 
wise  investments.  He  enjoys  life  in  his  quiet  but  hospitable  home  on 
Wabash  avenue,  and  is  most  fortunate  in  his  domestic  relations  and  social 
surroundings. 

After  a  retirement  of  eight  years  from  public  life,  Mr.  Rice  was,  in 
1865,  during  the  political  and  warlike  excitement  occasioned  by  the  long 


JOHN   B.    RICE.  617 

Mar  of  the  rebellion,  nominated  bv  the  '*Unit)n  party"  for  the  office  of 
Mayor  of  Cliicago,  and  was  elected  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  of  iiis 
fellow-citizens,  wlio  had  confidence  its  well  in  iiis  high  integrity  as  in  his 
patriotism  and  executive  ability.  His  only  son  enlistee!  iu  the  early  part 
of  the  war,  to  fight  for  tlie  national  cause  in  which  both  father  and  sou 
felt  a  most  hearty  interest,  and,  as  Captain  of  Company  A,  of  the  Eighty- 
ninth  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers,  was  killed  September  19,  18G5,  at 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  Tennessee. 

The  acceptability  with  which  Mr.  Rice  filled  the  office  (jf  Mayor  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  in  1867,  just  before  the  expiration  of  his 
first  term,  he  w'as  re-elected  by  a  large  majority,  iu  a  warm  and  excited 
political  contest,  as  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party.  He  is,  there- 
fore, our  Mayor  at  the  time  of  the  present  writing,  and  never  has  a  city 
had  a  more  houest,  devoted,  or  poj)ular  chief  magistrate  than  he  is.  He 
presides  over  the  deliberations  of  the  Common  Council  with  dignity  ami 
impartiality,  and  has  the  moral  courage  to  interpose  his  veto  when  that 
l>ody  either  transcends  its  legitimate  powers,  or  enacts  a  measure  that,  in 
his  judgment,  does  not  comport  with  the  best  interests  of  the  tax-payers, 
or  the  city.  Although  he  has  large  private  interests  that  require  pei'sonal 
attention,  yet,  he  gives  nearly  all  his  time  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  and 
takes  an  honest  pride  in  the  city's  good  government  and  continued 
progress.  As  a  man,  he  is  one  of  Nature's  own  noblemen,  being  generous 
of  heart  and  courteous  of  bearing;  as  a  citizen,  he  is  public-spirited,  and 
takes  a  deep  interest  in  every  movement  that  promises  to  better  tiie 
condition  of  the  people,  or  to  add  to  the  good  name  or  the  welfare  of  the 
city;  and,  as  a  public  officer,  he  is  everything  that  Chicago's  best  friends 
could  desire.     This  is  high  praise,  but  it  is,  injustice,  due  him. 


JOHN  G.  GIiNDELE. 


The  homely  adage  that  "genius  will  work  its  way  through"  has 
received  many  exemplifications  in  the  history  of  Chicago,  hut  none  more 
ibrcible  than  that  presented  in  the  case  of  JoHX  G.  Gindele,  the  Presi- 
dent of  our  Board  of  Public  AVorks.  His  life  has  furnished  two  examples, 
one  in  his  native  land,  the  other  in  the  Garden  City.  In  both  instances, 
he  commenced  at  the  lowest  round  of  the  ladder,  and  by  the  force  of 
inherent  genius  and  indomitable  perseverance,  he  worked  his  way  to  a  high 
position  on  the  ladder  of  fame.  We,  of  Chicago,  owe  much  to  his  talent; 
how  much,  may  be  left  to  another  generation  to  tell. 

John  G.  Gindele  was  born  January  30,  1814,  in  the  city  of  Ravensburg, 
Kingdom  of  Wurtemburg,  Germany.  He  Avas  named  after  his  father ; 
his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Johanna  Haag.  His  father  was  a  manu- 
facturer of  paper;  he  was  drafted  to  serve  in  the  war  of  liberation  against 
the  French;  entered  France  with  the  allies,  and  died  tiiere,  in  1815,  of 
wounds  received  in  action.  His  mother  married  again  to  J.  A.  jSIuller,  a 
commission  and  forwarding  merchant;  he  also  had  been  a  soldier,  having 
served  under  Napoleon  in  Spain,  Italy,  Germany  and  Russia,  from  1801 
to  the  end  of  1813;  he  participated  in  the  disastrous  retreat  from  Moscow. 
The  fruit  of  the  second  marriage  was  four  girls  and  a  boy,  the  family  thus 
consisting  of  six  children.  Mr.  Muller  wils  not  in  very  good  circumstances, 
but  was  kind  to  his  step-son. 

John  entered  the  public  school  at  the  age  of  six,  where  he  was  always 
at  the  head  of  his  class;  at  eight,  he  was  removed  to  the  Latin  S<'hooI, 
and  at  the  age  of  ten  he  was  admitted  to  the  higher  classes.  Here,  also, 
he  soon  took  the  lead,  though  the  youngest  in  the  di|)artiii(iit.  His  pro- 
o-ress  in  these  studies  led   his  parents  to  designate  him    for  tin"  church. 


620 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


This  was,  however,  overruled  by  the  force  of  his  natural  leanings.  He 
had  early  taken  a  great  flincy  to  drawing,  and  the  stone-cutter's  trade,  and 
often  spent  his  leisure  hours  in  designing  ornaments,  and  then  working 
them  out  in  a  neighboring  stone-yard.  He  also  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
in  constructing  water-wheels,  and  building  dams  and  miniature  canals  on 
a  little  tributary  to  the  main  creek  on  which  his  native  city  is  situated. 
That  creek,  in  a  distance  of  three  miles,  contained  twenty-six  waterfalls, 
with  factories  built  on  them,  the  situation  affording  an  unusual  stimulus 
for  the  exercise  of  his  inventive  genius. 

The  idea  of  studying  theology  was  abandoned,  when  hi>5  father  became 
fully  aware  of  the  bent  of  his  faculties.  He  was  placed  in  a  stone-cutting 
establishment  at  Lindau,  on  the  Lake  of  Constance,  under  a  skillful 
master,  where  he  worked  hard  during  six  days,  and  took  lessons  on  Sundays 
in  drawing  and  making  models.  He  studied  hard  to  acquire  both  a  theo- 
retical and  practical  knowledge  of  the  builder's  art.  He  had  served  three 
years  of  his  apprenticeship  when  his  step-father  died,  leaving  a  large 
family  in  poor  circumstances.  His  master  generously  gave  him  his  certifi- 
cate as  journeyman,  that  he  might  go  home  and  support  the  family.  Mr, 
Gindele  then  worked  to  this  end  as  journeynum,  and  devoted  his  nights 
often  till  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  perfecting  liimself  in 
drawing,  and  in  making  plans  and  models,  many  of  which  came  before 
the  notice  of  the  city  authorities,  who  were  so  well  pleased  with  them  that 
they  offered  him  a  stipendium  for  each  semester  of  the  Engineers  and 
Architects'  School  at  Munich,  that  he  might  attend  for  the  purpose  of  per- 
fecting himself  in  his  studies.  He  embraced  the  offer  and  went  to  Municli, 
where,  during  the  summer,  he  worked  on  some  of  the  most  important 
buildings,  and  saved  money  enough  to  pay  tiie  expenses  of  the  winter 
sessions.  He  there  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Bavarian  Government, 
and  was  sent  by  them,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  and  a  half,  to  Kissengen 
to  take  charge  of  public  works  there,  in  the  erection  of  a  large  hall  with 
colonnades,  and  an  elegant  stone  arched  bridge.  He  then,  for  some  time, 
superintended  the  work  on  the  canal  connecting  the  river  Main  with  the 
Danube.  In  December,  1838,  he  took  the  position  of  City  Engineer  of 
Schweinefurth,  a  manufacturing  place  on  the  river  Main,  in  Northern 
Bavaria.  His  appointment  was  for  life.  He  staid  there  twelve  years. 
This  city  owned  an  immense  water-power,  and  mills  and  factories  with 
sixteen  water-wheels.  The  whole  system  of  canals,  wheels  and  mills,  was 
erected  in  1558,  in  very  rude  and  primitive  style.     Mr.  Gindele  added 


JOHN   G.  GINDELE.  621 

about  five  hundred  horsc-powcr  to  the  wdrkino;  force  of  the  water,  niakin*'- 
all  the  plans,  and  superintending  the  wholt*  work  of  remodeling  the  canals, 
dams,  etc.,  and  supplying  new  macliinerv.  IL^  also  built  then;  a  large 
hospital,  and  bridges  and  many  private  buildings. 

During  the  Revolution  of  1848-9,  Mr.  Gindele  stood  iirmly  on  the 
side  of  the  Democratic  party,  for  the  unity  of  the  German  people  in  one 
great  German  Empire.  When  tlw?  Parliament  at  Frankf  )rt  was  dissolved, 
and  the  so-called  "Rump  Parliament,"  assembled  in  Stuttgardt,  appealed 
to  the  people  for  aid,  Mr.  Gindele  was  very  active  in  sending  forward  five 
hundred  men,  well  armed,  from  Schweinefurth.  The  revolution  was  a 
failure,  and  he  was  forced  to  emigrate  with  his  family  of  five  children  to 
.the  United  States.  He  settled  in  Wisconsin,  where  he  lost  everything, 
and  removed  to  Chicago  in  July,  1852,  leaving  his  family  in  ^Milwaukee 
with  some  friends. 

Unable  to  speak  the  English  language,  he  was  here  at  a  great  disad- 
vantage. He  sought  employment  as  stone-cutter,  and  found  it  at  A.  S. 
Sherman's  marble  and  stone-yard,  on  Lake  Street,  at  a  dollar  and  a  half 
per  day.  His  first  job  was  the  carving  on  the  first  marble  front  erected  in 
this  city,  now  Adsit's  bank  building.  Soon  after  this  he  cut  all  the  carving 
work  for  the  four  triple  windows  of  the  south  side  reservoir,  on  Adams 
street,  little  dreaming  then  that  he  would  be  so  prominently  connected 
with  the  water-works  in  future  years.  As  he  became  familiar  with  the 
English  language,  he  was  employed  as  draughtsman,  and  then  l)ecanie 
Superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Stone  Dressing  Company,  having  charge  of 
the  cut-stone  work  for  the  more  important  buildings  erected  in  the  city  up 
to  1859,  and  conducting  the  business  witli  great  acceptability.  When  the 
company  reduced  its  business,  in  the  last-named  year,  Mr.  Gindele  com- 
menced a  stone-yard  for  himself,  and  contracted  for  several  l)uildings,  the 
most  important  of  which  was  the  south  wing  and  tower  of  the  Chicago 
University.  In  1861,  the  Board  of  Public  Works  being  created  by  Act 
of  Legislature,  lie  was  elected  as  (-ommissioner  from  the  South  Division, 
for  the  term  of  six  years,  during  four  years  of  which  he  was  President  of 
the  Board.  At  the  expiration  of  the  term,  he  was  re-elected,  and  retained 
the  position  of  President,  which  he  held  until  the  date  of  his  resignation 
in  December,  1867.  As  member  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  lie  w;ls 
also  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal. 

Many  great  improvements  have  been  carried   (»nt  since  Mr.  Gindele 
was  chosen  to  the  office  which  \u>  lilh'd  so  ablv.     The  Lake  Tnum-l — the 


622  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

eighth  wonder  of  the  world — was  begun  and  finished,  while  the  mag- 
nificent buildings  in  connection  with  it  are  near  completion.  The 
responsibility  of  this  great  and  dangerous  undertaking  rested  wholly  with 
the  Board,  and  was  carried  through  amid  much  opposition  and  difficulty, 
and  on  a  very  economical  scale.  He  designed  the  plan  for  the  tunnel 
under  the  river  at  Washington  street,  which  was  adopted  with  slight 
alterations,  and  is  now  being  constructed.  This  work  he  did  during 
evenings,  that  he  might  not  neglect  the  duties  of  the  office — the  work 
being  then  unauthorized  by  the  Board  or  Council.  Before  it  was  decided 
to  cleanse  the  Chicago  River  by  deepening  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
Canal,  his  plan  for  a  canal  to  Calumet,  with  pumping  works,  having  the 
same  object  in  view,  was  considered  by  the  citizens'  committee,  and  by 
them  adopted  as  the  only  possible  remedy  for  the  evils  complained  of  by 
the  citizens. 

In  1866,  the  city  government  of  S(;h\veinefiirth — -his  old  home — 
requested  Mr.  Gindele  to  send  a  plan  for  an  important  change  on  the 
river  Main,  having  for  its  object  the  improvement  of  navigation  and  the 
extension  of  manufacturing  facilities.  He  did  as  requested,  and  his  plan 
was  adopted,  and  the  city  authorities  were  so  well  })leased  with  it  that 
they  sent  him,  as  a  token  of  their  esteem,  a  magnificent  album,  bound  in 
the  old  German  colors,  ornamented  with  a  silver  double-headed  eagle,  and 
containing  views  of  the  principal  [)oints  in  the  city  and  vicinity.  The 
gift  was  accompanied  by  an  exceedingly  complimentary  letter,  which  we 
subjoin : 

"SwEiNEFURTH,  March  19,  18G7. 

"My  Dear  Friend:  In  the  absence  of  our  Burgomaster,  Carl  Von  Schultes,  who  is 
at  the  Diet  at  Munich,  I  am  commissioned  to  transmit  to  you,  in  his  name  and  that  of  our 
city  authorities,  the  accompanying  souvenir  of  our  dear  city.  I  trust  it  will  reach  safely 
the  distant  shore  and  the  hands  of  you  and  yours,  and  that  on  turning  its  pages  you  will 
not  only  be  pleasantly  reminded  of  the  town  you  used  to  love,  and  of  the  changes  time 
has  eifected  in  it,  but  also  of  your  old  friends,  and  especially  that  you  will  see  in  it  a  just 
recognition  on  the  part  of  Sweiuefurth  of  the  great  services  you  have  rendered  her. 

"Doubtless  every  one  of  our  citizens  has  reflected  with  gratification  on  the  fact  that 
in  your  distant  home  you  have  not  refused  to  be  useful  to  us,  and  that,  though  burdened 
with  work,  you  have  found  time  to  send  us  such  correct  and  elaborate  productions,  which 
cannot  be  adequately  paid  for.  We  only  wish  to  send  you  a  friendly  and  grateful  recog- 
nition. As  I  know  you,  I  feel  sure  our  Burgomaster  is  right.  Doubtless  the  album  will 
give  pleasure  to  your  wife  and  children,  and  your  fellow-citizens  and  friends  may  see 
from  it  that  our  hearts  were  and  still  are  inclined  to  you. 

"With  friendly  greeting,  yours, 

"Ferdinand  Fisher." 


JOHN  G.  GINDELE.  (323 

^  Mr.  Gindele  was  married,  in  1837,  to  .Afiss  Louise  Ilir.scl.Ueiin,  of 
Kisseugen.  His  family  of  one  daughter  and  il.ur  sons  were  all  boru  in 
Germany.  Three  of  the  f..ur  served  with  h.nior  in  the  Union  army 
during  the  late  war. 


FRANCIS  C.  SHEIIMAN. 


The  Hon.  Francis  C.  Sherman  is  another  of  the  comparatively  few 
persons  who  were  participants  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the  city,  and 
yet  take  an  active  part  in  its  business  and  growing  greatness.     He  was 
born  in  Newtown,  Connecticut,  in  the  year  1805,  and  came  to  Chicago 
Avith  his  family  in  April,  1834.     Shortly  after  he  reached  here,  he  built, 
Avith  the  aid  of  a  fellow-workman,  a  frame  dwelling  on  Randolph  street, 
between  LaSalle  and  Wells  street.     This  building,  which  is  still  standing, 
was  originaliy  twelve  feet  high,  and  eighteen  by  thirty-four  in  width  and 
depth.     Here  he  opened  a  boarding-house,  and  every  nook  in  the  building 
was  occupied.     The  next  year  he  had  purchased  a   wagon  and  pair  of 
horses,  and,  in  the  absence  of  stage  coach  facilities,  carried  passengers  from 
Chicago  to  Joliet,  Ottawa,  Galena,  Peoria,  or  other  places,  generally  getting 
a  return  load  to  Chicago.     In  1835,  he  moved  "out  on  the  prairie,"  being 
on  Adams  street,  near  Market,  and  comiiicnced   I  trick-making,  using  the 
clay  and  erecting  his  kilns  on  that  part  of  the  city  lying  between  jNIarket 
street,  Adams  street,  the  river,  and  the  present  site  of  the  Madison  street 
bridge.     In  1835-6  he  built  for  himself  the  first  four-story  brick  building 
erected  on  Lake  street,  being  near  Clark  street,  and  on  the  lot  now  used 
by  Matson  &  Hoes' jewelry  store.     Mr.  Sherman  continued  in  the  business 
of  brick-making  and  building  for  over  fourteen  years,  during  that  time 
acquiring  and  improving  much  valuable  property,  and  building  many 
houses  and  blocks  for  others.     In  1850,  lie  retired  from  that  business,  but 
in  the  management  of  a  large  estate  and  in  the  improvement  of  it  he  has 
passed,  and  continues  yet  to  pass,  a  life  of  more  than  ordinary  activity. 

Mr.  Sherman,  in  1836-7,  erected,  on  the  corner  of  Randolph  and  Clark 
streets,  a   three-story  brick    building,  which   was   known   as    the   "City 


626  BIOGRAPHICAIi  SKETCHES. 

Hotel."  This  be  afterwards  remodeled,  making  it  a  five-story  buildino-, 
eighty  by  one  hundred  feet,  which  was  called  the  Sherman  House,  and 
this,  in  1860,  he  pulled  down,  in  order  to  build  the  present  Sherman 
House,  which  is  unsurpassed  by  any  hotel  edifice  in  the  country.  It 
measures  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  by  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  feet. 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  almost  his  first  arrival  in  Chicago,  has  taken  an 
active  part  in  public  affairs,  and  has  enjoyed  public  confidence  to  the 
fullest  extent.  He  was  selected  as  one  of  the  first  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
town  of  Chicago,  and  served  until  Chicago  was  incorporated  as  a  city.  He 
served  in  the  first  Board  of  Aldermen  under  the  city  government,  and 
repeatedly  thereafter.  He  served  also  a.s  a  member  of  the  County  Com- 
missioners' Court,  and  in  various  county  trusts  and  offices.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  Board  of  Appraisers  of  the  Canal  Lands.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  preserving  the  Court  House  Square  for  public  purposes.  He  was 
a  Supervisor  from  one  of  the  city  wards,  and  enjoyed  the  full  confidence 
of  the  country  members.  He  was  made  President  of  the  Board  at  the 
time  when  the  sale  of  the  Public  Square  was  ordered ;  the  policy  being  to 
use  the  proceeds  to  build  public  offices  on  less  expensive  sites.  Mr. 
Sherman's  personal  influence  probably  defeated  this  scheme.  His  efibrts 
induced  the  city  to  contribute  largely  to  the  erection  of  the  present  Court 
House  building,  thus  securing  the  Square  for  all  time  for  public  purposes. 

Mr.  Sherman  has  always  been  a  man  of  practical  ideas.  His  opponents 
have  charged  him  with  a  want  of  polish  and  a  deficiency  of  education,  but 
the  people  of  the  city  have  disregarded  all  this,  because  of  their  confidence 
in  his  strong  practical  sense  and  personal  integrity.  His  wealth  has  been 
the  result,  not  of  speculation,  but  of  honest,  hard-working  and  persevering 
industry.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  as  early  as 
1843,  and  subsequently.  He  was  also  elected  and  served  as  a  member 
of  the  State  Convention,  which,  in  1847,  framed  the  present  Constitution 
of  the  State.  During  his  life,  except  for  one  year,  he  has  been  an  active 
member  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  1856,  he  was  nominated  by  the 
opposition  as  a  candidate  for  Mayor,  and  was  defeated.  In  1858,  he  was 
a  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  and  was  defeated  by  a  few 
votes.  In  1862,  he  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Mayor  of  Chicago, 
and  was  elected  over  C.  IS".  Holden,  Esq.  In  1863,  he  was  re-elected  for 
two  years,  over  T.  B.  Bryan,  Esq.,  after  the  fiercest  local  contest  ever 
known  in  this  city.  In  1862,  he  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
Congress,  and  in  1865  and  1867  the  Democratic  candidate  for  IVIayor. 


GEORGE  P.  A.  HEALY. 


Although  onr  city  lias  been  more  or  less  absorbed,  during  the  years 
tliat  are  past,  in  the  great  work  of  buihling  up  a  lasting  foundation  for 
her  present  and  future  greatness,  thus  compelling  her  to  give  almost 
exclusive  attention  to  commercial  enterprises,  yet  we  are  glad  to  chronicle 
the  fact  that,  of  late  years,  her  attention  has  been  turned,  in  a  great 
degree,  to  the  culture  of  the  fine  arts.  To-day  she  boasts  of  a  corps  of 
artists  whose  Inisy  fingers  are  constantly  engaged  in  satisfying  the 
increasing  demands  of  her  citizens  for  works  of  this  description.  Fore- 
most in  this  list  is  he  whose  sketch  Ave  are  about  to  write. 

George  P.  A.  Healy  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  July  1"^, 
1813,  being  the  eldest  son  of  Captain  "William  and  !Maiv  Healy.  His 
father  led  an  active  life  in  his  profession,  as  a  captain  in  the  merchant 
service.  In  the  war  of  1812,  his  vessel  and  cargo,  in  wliidi  his  entire 
fortune  was  embarked,  were  captured  by  a  British  privateer,  and  he 
himself  detained  as  a  prisoner  of  war  six  months  on  the  island  of 
Antigua,  after  which  time  he  was  exchanged.  On  his  return,  lie  married 
^liss  Mary  Hicks,  who  was  oidy  fourteen  years  of  age.  From  liis 
mother  ]Mr.  Healy,  no  donbt,  inherited  his  talent  for  [)ainting,  of  which, 
however,  he  gave  no  indication  until  the  age  of  sixteen,  when  it  was 
develoj)ed  by  drawing  maps  for  his  school  companions. 

Two  years  later,  Thomas  Sully  visited  Boston,  commissioned  by  the 
Athena?um  of  that  city  to  paint  a  wliole-length  portrait  of  its  benefactor, 
the  late  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Perkins.  A  friend  of  Mr.  Ilealy — Miss 
Jane  Stuart,  daughter  of  the  late  Gilbert  Stnart — jirc.-i'Mird  liim  lo  this 
great  artist,  who  re(|ueste(l  him  to  make  a  study  from  nature  and  coj)y  a 
head  by  Stuart.      When  (•••mpletod  and  shown  t()  Mr.  Sully,  he,  Mith  liis 


628  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

characteristic  kindness,  said:  "By  all  means,  Mr.  Healy,  make  painting 
your  profession."  Mr.  Sully  was  commissioned  by  the  St.  George's 
Society,  seven  years  later,  to  go  to  London  and  paint  Queen  Victoria, 
and,  at  that  time,  looking  at  a  portrait  of  Audubon,  be  ])owed  and  said: 
"  Mr.  Healy,  you  have  no  reason  to  regret  having  taken  my  advice." 

The  encouragement  given  to  INIr.  Healy  in  the  autumn  of  1831, 
emboldened  the  young  man  to  take  a  painting  room  on  Federal  street,  in 
a  house  belonging  to  the  late  Richard  Tucker,  to  whom  our  young  artist 
went  at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter,  saying  he  had  not  earned  enough  to 
pay  the  rent.  The  reply  was:  "Then  Charles  and  John  must  sit  to 
3"ou."  The  former  was  his  only  son,  and  the  latter  his  son-in-law,  John 
Henry  Gray.  These,  the  first  portraits  INIr.  Healy  exhibited,  were  seen 
at  the  Athenaeum  in  1832,  The  following  spring,  he  was  painting 
Lieutenant  Van  Brunt,  of  the  Navy,  to  whom  he  said  he  wished  he 
knew  some  beautiful  woman  whose  picture  he  might  place  in  the  coming 
exhibition,  to  open  in  a  few  weeks.  He  had,  early  that  morning,  been 
permitted  to  see  them  hanging  the  pictures  at  the  Athenaeum,  where  he 
noticed  an  exquisite  likeness  of  Mrs.  Sully,  painted  by  her  husband,  our 
greatest  painter  of  women.  This  it  was  that  inspired  the  wish.  Said 
Lieutenant  Van  Brunt:  "Mr.  Healy,  stop  this  sitting,  and  go  at  once  to 
Mrs.  Harrison  Gray  Otis;  say  to  her  that  you  are  painting  my  picture, 
and  tell  her  what  you  said  to  me."  The  young  artist  called,  and  sent 
Avoi-d  to  the  lady  that  a  gentleman  wished  to  see  her  on  business.  He 
was  received  with  great  kindness,  and,  after  listening  to  the  simple 
facts,  Mrs.  Otis  laughed,  and  said:  "Pray,  whom  have  I  the  pleasure 
of  addressing?"  She  then  received  the  artist's  card,  and  promised  to  call 
very  soon  and  see  the  portraits  of  her  friends.  Lieutenant  Van  Brunt  and 
John  Henry  Gray.  The  following  day,  she  called  with  a  friend,  and,  on 
taking  leave  of  Mr.  Healy,  said :  "  I  am  pleased  with  what  I  have  seen ; 
call  at  my  house  when  you  have  time."  He  alloMcd  one  day  to  pass,  and 
then  presented  himself,  but  his  timidity  deprived  him  of  speech.  The 
generous  lady,  seeing  his  confusion,  relieved  him  by  saying:  "AVhen 
shall  I  sit?"  Still  seeing  him  unable  to  utter  a  word,  she  smilingly 
added:  "Shall  it  be  to-morrow?"  Mr.  Healy  exclaimed,  with  gratitude: 
"I  must  prepare  for  you,  madam;  let  it  be  the  following  day,  if  you 
])lcase."  The  result  of  the  first  sitting  was,  from  his  nervousness,  beyond 
doubt,  the  poorest  effort  our  artist  ever  made ;  but  he  was  encouraged  to 
persevere,  and,  at  the  second  sitting,  he  placed  the   mirror  in   such  a 


GEORGE   P.   A.   IIEALY.  629 

j)osition  that  his  clianiiinii'  sitter  couhl  .soc  tlie  protrres.s  of  the  work, 
wliich  aiuuseil  her,  and  tliiirf  he  caught  lier  huighing  oxi)rcssioii. 

This  work  cnabk'd  Mr.  Hcaly  to  k^ave  a  iKuulsome  sum  of"  money 
with  his  mother,  and  to  go  to  Europe,  uith  a  thousand  dolkirs  in  his 
pocket,  in  the  spring  of  1834.  He  studied  two  years  in  Paris,  (hiring 
which  time  he  drew  from  the  lil'e,  and  copied  a  number  of  pictures  in 
the  Louvre.  AVhile  thus  occupied,  he  was  very  much  gratified  by  the 
remarks  of  an  English  gentleman  and  lady,  u])oii  his  copy  of  Corrcggio's 
"Mysterious  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine." 

Late  that  autumn,  he  started  for  Italy,  by  the  way  of  Mount  C'cnis. 
While  on  the  jiiazza  of  the  hotel  at  the  first  town  on  the  plains  of  Italy 
where  the  diligence  stopped,  a  lady  came  towards  him,  extending  her  hand 
and  saying:  "I  am  delighted  to  make  your  acquaintance,  Mr.  Hcaly;  I 
am  Lady  Faulkner;  Sir  Arthur  and  I  met  y()U  in  the  Louvre,  and  have 
since  passed  two  months  in  the  society  of  your  friend,  ^Irs.  Olis,  now  at 
Geneva,  from  whom  we  have  heard  all  about  you;  we  insist  on  your 
dining  with  us,  and  accepting  a  seat  in  our  carriage  for  the  balance  of 
your  journey  thntugh  Italy."  Thus  commenced  one  of  the  most  delightful 
friendships  of  our  artist's  lile.  The  first  galleiy  visited  was  at  Turin;  the 
two  works  he  most  vividly  remembered  were  the  ])ictures  of  Van  Dyke's 
"Children  of  Charles  I.,"  and  a  cabinet-sized  portrait  of  a  burgomaster, 
by  Kembrandt.  Mr.  Hcaly  reveled  in  the  palaces  and  pictures  at  Genoa, 
from  which  city  the  party  followed  the  coast,  en  route  for  Florence,  by 
way  of  Sienna.  The  journey  was  rendered  extremely  interesting  by 
Sir  Arthur's  translating  Horace's  description  of  the  very  scenes  through 
which  thev  were  passing — scenes  so  little  changed  by  the  lapse  of  centuries. 
During  five  weeks  passed  in  Florence,  Mr.  Hcaly  copied  Titian's  Venus 
and  one  or  two  other  important  works.  The  Faulkners  had  letters  from 
Royaltv  to  the  best  people  in  Florence,  and  their  young  profcr/c  was 
presented  as  if  he  were  one  of  their  family — an  advantage  fully  appreciated 
by  Mr.  Hcaly,  and  which  was  extended  to  him  at  Uome  and  Xajdes, 
where  he  took  an  aflectionate  leave  of  his  friends. 

On  his  way  back  to  Paris,  he  stojiped  two  months  at  Geneva,  where 
he  painted  Mrs.  Otis  and  family,  besides  many  English  people.  In  July, 
he  returned  t<>  Paris  and  made  several  copies  in  the  Louvre,  i)ainting, 
evenings,  from  the  life. 

In  the  spring  of  1836,  he  visited  London  for  th  ■  first  time,  and 
haw   the  last  exhibition  ever  held  in  Somerset  House;   he  also  painted 


630  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

a  portrait  of  the  friend  of  Beiitham  and  Burdett — tlie  well-known 
Francis  Place. 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  Joseph  Hume  wrote  a  note  saying  he 
would  be  glad  to  sit  if  he  could  obtain  so  good  a  likeness,  to  accomplish 
which  he  returned  in  the  early  part  of  January.  The  note  reached  Mr. 
Healy  while  on  a  sketching  tour,  (some  of  the  studies  of  which  are  now 
in  his  studio,)  during  which  expedition  he  made  a  journey  of  three  hun- 
dred leagues  on  foot,  in  company  with  two  French  artists. 

During  Mr.  Hume's  sittings,  Mr.  Healy  spoke  of  his  visit  to  Italy,  in 
connection  with  the  kindness  of  Sir  Arthur  Brook  Faulkner ;  lie  replied : 
"  He  was  one  of  the  stewards  of  the  great  reform  dinner  given  to  myself 
and  colleague  last  night,  and  now  rcj^ides  in  St.  John's  AVood."  Mr. 
Healy  was  warmly  received  by  his  friends,  and  Sir  Arthur  gave  him  a 
commission  to  paint  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Sussex  and  himself. 
With  this  handsome  opening,  lie  painted  with  great  success  until  the 
summer  of  1838,  when  the  American  Minister,  Andrew  Stevenson,  gave 
him  a  commission  to  paint  a  portrait  of  Marshal  Soult,  saying :  "  Mr. 
Healy,  you  must  arrange  with  General  Cass,  our  ]\Iinister  in  Paris,  in 
regard  to  the  sittings."  The  artist  wrote  to  that  gentleman,  saying  that 
Mr.  Stevenson  wished  this  portrait  as  a  commemoration  of  the  Marshal 
Avho  had  so  nobly  represented  France  at  the  recent  coronation  of  Queen 
Victoria.  The  reply  of  General  Cass  reached  Mr.  Healy  while  making 
studies  in  Belgium,  saying:  "Come  to  Paris,  and  I  will  do  Avhat  I  can 
to  induce  the  Marshal  to  sit  for  yon;  in  the  meantime,  I  wish  you  to 
paint  myself  and  family,  for,  although  young  in  years,  your  fame  has 
reached  me."  The  Marshal  was  unable  to  sit  at  that  time.  During  the 
sittings  of  General  Cass,  that  gentleman  said:  "How  wonld  you  like  to 
])aint  a  portrait  of  Louis  Philippe?"  at  which  our  artist  laughed,  as  if  that 
were  impossible.  The  General  asked  the  King  to  sit,  but  His  Majesty 
declined  on  the  score  of  want  of  time.  When,  however,  he  saw  the 
portrait  of  General  Cass  in  the  Louvre,  he  decided  otherwise,  and  when 
he  next  saw  the  General  at  Court,  said:  "Inform  your  young  friend  tliat, 
when  he  visits  Paris  again,  it  will  be  a  pleasure  for  me  to  sit  to  him." 
This  the  General  communicated  to  Mr.  Healy  in  London.  On  completing 
his  commissions  as  rapidly  as  possible,  he  returned  to  Paris,  and  was 
accompanied  by  General  Cass  near  His  Majesty  for  the  first  sitting.  When 
permission  was  asked  to  take  the  measure  of  his  face,  the  reply  was  :  "  Do 
as  you  are  accustomed,  Mr.  Healy,  so  as  not  to  lose  time."     With  this 


GEORGE   P.    A.   HEALY.  631 

permission,  the  rapid  ascent  of  two  or  three  steps  took  him  to  whci'c  tlic 
King  sat.  Tiie  new  dividers  in  the  iiand  of  the  artist  jrk'amed  like  a 
poiij^nard,  and  one  of  tlie  aids  ruslied  forward  to  seize  the  arm,  when 
Lonis  Philippe  observed:  "Monsienr  k'  General,  ]Mr.  Ilealy  is  a  repnl)- 
lican  from  the  United  States,  and  there  is  no  dano;er."  This  was  said  in 
consequence  of  two  or  three  attempts  which  had,  not  long  before,  been 
made  on  the  life  of  the  King. 

During  this  year,  Mr.  Healy  painted  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Cass,  which, 
in  the  exhibition  at  the  Louvre,  in  the  spring  of  1840,  obtained  for  him 
his  first  gold  medal.  During  this  year  he  returned  to  London,  formed  a 
matrimonial  alliance  with  Miss  Louisa  Phipp,  of  that  city,  and  returned 
to  Paris,  where  he  resumed  the  sittings  of  Louis  Philippe.  During  one 
of  these,  in  1842,  His  Majesty  observed:  "  I  was  seen  in  good  company 
last  night,  at  the  grand  ball  given  by  General  Cass  to  commemorate  the 
birthday  of  General  Washington,  hanging,  as  I  did,  betweeti  the  portraits 
of  that  great  man  and  M.  Guizot."  The  King's  portrait,  although 
unfinished,  General  Cass  had  placed  between  the  two,  as  above  mentioned. 
The  King  said :  "  Mr.  Healy,  where  did  you  get  the  likeness  of  General 
Washington?"  The  reply  was  :  "  From  an  engraving  in  the  life  written 
by  Sparks."  "  I  thought  so,  as  I  know  of  no  portrait  of  AVashingtou  in 
France."  His  Majesty  here  said,  with  a  kindness  of  manner  never  to  be 
forgotten :  "  Mr.  Healy,  I  want  a  whole-length  portrait  of  General 
Washington  for  my  historical  gallery  at  Versailles,  and  I  Avish  it  (bowing) 
from  your  pencil."  This  was  said  at  the  end  of  the  sitting,  and  the  artist 
worked  no  more  that  day.  Here  the  King  showed  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  different  portraits  of  the  General.  Our  artist  suggested  that  he 
should  make  a  copy  of  the  whole-length  likeness  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston ; 
the  King  said  :  "  I  wish,  rather,  for  a  copy  of  that  which  j\Irs.  Bingham 
ordered  Stuart  to  paint,  and  M'hich  I  saw  in  its  progress  in  the  artist's 
studio,  for  that  is  in  his  black  velvet,  as  President,  and  not  as  Goaieral. 
That  picture  is  now  in  London.  M.  le  Comte  St.  Auler,  our  Ambas- 
sador, shall  be  instructed  to  obtain  permission  for  you  to  copy  it,  and  I 
will  send  for  you  in  a  week."  The  King  was  true  to  his  word,  and  on 
meeting,  the  first  thing  lie  said  was :  "Mr.  Healy,  we  an-  dished;  the 
portrait  in  question  has  gone  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  I  may  not  send  you; 
I  now  leave  this  matter  in  your  hands.  Proceed  to  the  United  States, 
and  do  as  well  as  you  can  from  the  one  in  the  Presidential  Mansion, 
which  Avas  saved  by  Mrs.  Madison  when  the  British  took  Washington." 


632  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Mr.  Healy  returned  to  Boston  after  an  absence  of  eight  years,  lost  no 
time  in  executing  the  work  confided  to  him,  and  \vas  received  most  kindly 
by  Washington  Allston,  to  whom  he  delivered  a  message  from  the  Duke 
of  Sutherland,  in  regard  to  the  picture  ordered  for  him  by  his  brother- 
in-law,  Lord  Morpeth.  The  painter's  reply  was:  "I  informed  his 
Lordship  that  I  could  not  complete  that  work  until  my  great  picture,  on 
Avhich  I  have  been  occupied  for  twenty-five  years,  is  finished." 

Mr.  Healy  showed  his  copy  to  a  friend  in  London,  who  remarked : 
" That  is  from  one  of  AVest's."  Upon  being  corrected,  he  said :  ''  I  thought 
it  was,  as  I  saw  one  like  it  among  the  effects  of  the  late  John  D.  Lewis." 
Mr.  Healy  expressed  regret  that  that  picture  was  then  in  St.  Petersburg. 
"No,"  said  his  friend,  "it  is  in  this  neighborhood,  stored  in  Silbury's 
warehouse."  This  was  joyful  news,  and  he  obtained  from  the  executors 
permission  to  finish  the  copy  from  the  original,  which  copy  now  hangs  at 
Versailles.  The  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  having  quarreled  Avith  his 
heirs,  sold  the  library  and  pictures;  the  portrait  was  purchased  by  Moon, 
Boys  &  Graves,  the  great  printsellers  of  that  day,  who  tried  to  dispose  of 
it  to  the  English  Government.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  and  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet  went  to  see  it,  but,  although  admiring  the  work 
and  the  character  of  the  original,  decided  tliat  they  could  not  hang  the 
portrait  of  a  traitor  to  England  in  the  National  Gallery.  The  firm  then 
disposed  of  it  by  lottery,  and  thus  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  late 
John  D.  Lewis. 

On  Mr.  Healy's  return  to  Paris,  oNIonsieur  Guizot,  after  a  Cabinet 
meeting,  was  invited  to  see  this  picture,  with  the  remark:  "I  wisli 
you  to  see  what  my  American  painter  has  done  for  me."  Apropos  to 
M.  Guizot,  the  year  before,  the  Americans  in  Paris,  as  a  compliment  to 
the  Prime  Minister  for  his  pamphlet  on  Washington,  and  his  other 
writings,  ordered  Mr.  Healy  to  paint  his  whole-length  portrait,  to  be 
placed  in  Washington,  wherever  President  Tyler  should  think  mo.>t 
appropriate  to  hang  it.  That  gentleman  expressed  to  the  artist  his  fear 
that,  wherever  it  was  placed,  he  would  be  found  fault  with ;  but  in  that 
he  was  mistaken,  for  all  approved  of  its  being  hung  in  the  National 
Institute — it  how  occupies  a  place  in  the  Smithsonian. 

In  1844,  the  King  commissioned  Mr.  Healy  to  make  copies  of  the 
portraits  of  the  royal  personages,  from  Elizabeth  down  to  William  lY., 
together  with  those  of  the  most  eminent  statesmen.  While  still  executing 
these  orders,  he  was  instructed  to  proceed  in  all  haste  to  j^aint  the  portrait 


GEORGE   P.   A.   HEALY.  633 

of  General  Jackson,  and  several  of  the  Presidents  and  statesmen  of  our 
country.  These  being  done,  he  obtained  permission  I'rom  his  Majesty  to 
return  to  the  United  States,  to  make  the  studies  for  his  great  pi<,'ture  of 
"Webster  Replying  to  Hayne,"  the  studies  for,  and  llic  execution  of 
which  work,  occupied  liiiu  seven  years.  It  was  purchased  by  the  city 
of  Boston,  and  is  now  in  Fanueil  Hall.  Before  it  was  completed,  Louis 
Philippe  was  dethroned,  and  when  Mr  ITealy  deplored  this  fact  to  his 
friend,  George  Ticknor,  that  gentleman  replied:  "The  best  patron  an 
artist  can  have  is  the  public." 

On  his  return  to  Europe,  Mr.  Ilealy  paid  his  respects  to  iiis  patron 
and  family  at  Glaremount,  where  he  was  most  cordially  received.  Our 
artist's  next  important  work  represents  Franklin,  Lee  and  Dean,  negotia- 
ting a  treaty  of  alliance  between  France  and  the  struggling  Colonies. 
This  work,  now  in  Chicago,  obtained  for  him  his  second  gold  medal  at 
the  Universal  Exhibition  in  Paris,  in  1855,  in  which  year  Mr.  Healy 
first  came  to  Chicago,  where  his  family  followed  him  the  year  after.  The 
family  returned  to  Paris  in  1866,  where  Mr.  Healy  joined  them  during 
the  past  summer. 

AVc  need  not  add  a  word  as  to  the  great  success  which  has  uniformly 
attended  Mr.  Healy 's  efforts  to  please  his  patrons  in  Chicago,  as  it  has 
become  proverbial  that  to  engage  a  sitting  with  him  is  to  secure  a  finished 
likeness. 

A  more  perfect  gentleman,  genial  companion  and  affectionate  parent 
need  not  bo  looked  for,  than  he  of  whom  we  have  written.  A  friend  to 
the  poor,  always  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  those  who  are  struggling 
for  success,  especially  in  the  art  circles  of  which  he  is  the  acknowledged 
head,  he  has  won  a  jilace  in  the  affections  of  hundreds  of  our  citizens, 
which  time  cannot  efl'ace. 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN  HAYES. 


Hon.  S.  S.  Hayes  is  a  native  of  Tennessee,  having  been  born  at 
Nashville,  on  the  25th  of  December,  1820.  Before  narrating  the  events 
of  his  life,  we  will  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  his  ancestral  record,  which 
possesses  much  more  than  ordinary  interest. 

His  father,  Dr.  R.  P.  Hayes,  was  a  native  of  South  Hadley,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  a  son  of  Rev.  Joel  Hayes,  who  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death 
— 1825 — and  had  been  for  more  than  fifty  years,  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  at  that  place.  Dr.  Hayes  studied  his  profession  under 
Dr.  Warren,  of  Boston.  He  first  settled  in  Rome,  New  York.  During 
the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  he  was  Surgeon  of  a  New  York  regiment. 
In  1816,  he  married  Miss  Mary  C.  Suowdcn,  the  mother  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  F.  Snowden,  of  Sackett's 
Harbor,  New  York,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  influence  in  his  denomi- 
nation, who  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  whose  father  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  Princeton  College,  having  donated  to  that  institution  the  land 
now  occupied  by  it.  Both  the  Hayes  and  Snowden  families  came  to  this 
country  at  a  very  early  day  from  England,  the  former  being  originally 
from  Scotland,  and  the  latter  from  Wales. 

S.  S.  Hayes'  grandmother,  on  his  father's  side,  was  a  Bliss,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Thomas  Bliss,  who  came  from  England  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century;  also  of  Jirewer,  one  of  the  original  "Pilgrim 
Fathers."  His  grandmother,  on  his  mother's  side,  was  a  Breese,  aunt  of 
Commodore  Breese,  of  the  Navy,  and  of  Sidney  Breese,  his  brother, 
formerly  United  States  Senator  from  this  State,  and  for  many  years  past 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse, 
the  inventor  of  the  electric  telegraph,  was  also  her  nephew.     The  Breeses 


636    •  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

came  originally  from  France,  and  settled  at  an  early  day  in  Oneida 
County,  New  York. 

We  now  return  to  Dr.  Hayes,  the  father  of  Hon.  S.  S.  Hayes.  Soon 
after  he  left  the  service  of  his  country,  he  settled  in  Nashville.  Ten 
years  later — 1828 — he  lost  his  wife.  In  1831,  the  family  removed  to 
Cincinnati,  where  Dr.  Hayes  died  in  1837,  he  having  been  poisoned  by 
arsenic  administered  to  the  Avhole  fiimily,  from  motives  of  cupidity,  by  a 
colored  servant  girl,  who  had  been  treated  with  special  kindness. 

Thus  early  thrown  upon  himself,  and  obliged  to  rely  upon  his  own 
judgment,  the  sequel  of  ]\Ir.  Hayes'  life  has  shown  that  the  burden  was 
one  that  he  was  well  able  to  sustain.  He  had  obtained  an  elementary 
education  under  Moses  Stei)hcns,  at  Nashville,  and  a  classical  and  mathe- 
matical one  at  Cincinnati,  under  that  prince  of  teachers,  Alexander 
Keinnont.  The  advantages  enjoyed  were  well  improved.  At  the  death 
of  his  father,  he  entered  a  drug  store  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  as  a  store- 
boy.  The  next  season  he  was  made  prescription  clerk,  and  was  soon 
after  solicited  l)y  Dr.  Field,  of  Jeffersonville,  Indiana,  to  take  the  whole 
charge  of  his  drug  store  as  a  partner.  This  he  decided,  after  due  delibe- 
ration, to  decline. 

In  August,  1838,  before  he  was  yet  eighteen  years  of  age,  Mr.  Hayes 
bought  a  stock  of  drugs,  and,  like  one  of  old,  took  his  journey  into  what 
was  then  a  far  country,  settling  at  Shawneetown,  Illinois.  After  carrying 
on  the  business  for  over  two  years,  he  sold  out,  with  a  view  to  entering 
the  legal  profession.  He  entered  the  office  of  Henry  Eddy,  Esq.,  having 
Hon.  S.  S.  Marshall,  Member  of  Congress  from  this  State,  as  a  room-mate 
and  fellow-student.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1842,  and  at  once 
settled  at  Mount  Vernon,  Illinois.  After  a  brief  residence  there,  he 
removed  to  Carmi,  White  County,  where  he  remained  in  the  practice  Oi 
his  profession  until  the  winter  of  1850 — 51,  when  he  removed  to  Chicago. 
This  was  soon  after  his  marriao-e  to  Lizzie  J.,  eldest  dauo;hter  of  Colonel 
E.  D.  Taylor — then  of  Michigan  City,  now  of  Chicago — one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  and  most  prominent  men  of  this  State.  Mr.  Hayes' 
experience  as  a  country  lawyer  was  not  marked  by  any  occurrences 
specially  out  of  the  ordinary  line,  although  he  was  retained  during  that 
decade  in  a  good  many  important  cases,  which  he  managed  to  the  satis- 
faction of  his  clients. 

Mr.  Hayes  became  enlisted  in  politics  while  a  citizen  of  Carmi,  having 
formed  his   political  opinions  after  studying  the  writings  of  tliat   great 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEX   HAYES.  637 

publicist,  Jean  Baptistc  Say,  and  the  words  and  deeds  of  Jetlerson  and 
Jackson.  In  1843,  he  took  the  stuni[)  in  sui)i)ort  of  the  Democratic 
ticket.  In  the  Presidential  oanipaii^n  of  1844,  whieh  resnlted  in  the 
election  of  Polk  and  Dalhis,  he  thoroughly  canvassed  the  Southern 
Congressional  District  for  tlie  Democracy,  contributing  not  a  little  to  its 
success. 

In  1845,  Mr.  Hayes  Avas  a  delegate  to  the  Memphis  Convention, 
called  for  tlie  purpose  of  promoting  Western  and  Soutliern  commercial 
interests  and  internal  improvements.  Early  in  the  session  he  introduced 
a  resolution,  to  the  effect  that  in  its  proceedings  the  Convention  would 
approve  no  measures  except  those  in  the  support  of  which  both  ])olitieal 
parties  were  agreed,  urging  the  same  in  a  powerful  speech.  The  resolution 
was  adopted  unanimously.  In  his  speech,  Mr.  Hayes  analyzed  and 
condemned  certain  expressions  used  in  his  opening  speech  by  John  C. 
Calhoun,  the  celebrated  Senator  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  President 
of  the  Convention,  and  who  was  then  in  the  chair.  jNIr.  Hayes'  remarks 
excited  great  attention.  When  he  had  concluded,  other  members,  with 
some  warmth,  controverted  his  position  and  defended  the  expressions 
referred  to;  but  j\Ir.  Calhoun  arose  soon  after,  and  stated,  in  substance, 
that  Mr.  Hayes  was  right  in  liis  position,  and  the  expressions  wliich  he 
had  commented  upon  had  been  carelessly  used,  and  that  it  was  not  his 
design  to  favor  the  conclusions  which  they  would  seem  to  justify,  and 
which  had  been  drawn  from  them  by  members  of  the  Convention. 

This  great  triumph  of  INIr.  Hayes  made  a  profound  sensation  in  the 
Convention,  and  was  regarded  as  reflecting  no  little  honor  upon  the 
Democracy  of  Illinois.  Calhoun  himself  took  no  offense  at  the  straight- 
forward and  eloquent  i)rotest  against  the  views  he  had  expressed  on  being 
inducted  into  the  chair.  He  afterwards  sent  his  son.  Captain  Calhoun,  to 
him,  requesting  an  interview,  which  took  plaf;",  and  was  both  interesting 
and  profitable  to  Mr.  Hayes.  At  the  close  of  the  Convention,  they  took 
passage  for  New  Orleans  by  the  same  steamer,  and,  during  a  trip  of  a 
week,  Mr.  Calhoun  treated  Mr.  Hayes  with  marked  attention  and 
kindness. 

In  the  summer  of  1846,  Mr.   Hayes   was  nominated   for  the  State 

Legislature,  and  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  although  the  Wliigs 

,had  previously  controlled  the  county.     This  was  a  merited  compliment  to 

his   personal    worth   and  reputation   among   those    who    knew    iiii.i    well. 

In   the   General    Assembly   ho   was    honored    wiih    the    cliaii-inan^hil)   of 


638  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  Committee  on  Education.  This  committee,  always  an  important 
one,  inaugurated,  under  Mr.  Hayes'  management,  several  measures,  the 
influence  of  which  is  still  felt  in  the  State.  Besides  the  ordinary  business 
referred  to  the  committee,  the  State  institutions  for  the  blind  and  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb  were  established,  and  important  changes  made  in  the 
school  laws.  The  same  General  Assembly  provided  for  the  funding  of 
the  State  debt,  and  adopted  such  legislation  as  resulted  in  the  suppression 
of  the  Massac  riots,  and  in  both  Mr.  Hayes  took  a  prominent  part, 
having  originated  and  procured  the  passage  of  the  act  defining  and 
punishing  a  new  class  of  offenders  arising  out  of  the  usurpation  of 
judicial  power  by  mobs. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  Mr.  Hayes  raised  a  company  for  the  Mexican 
war  he  being  the  first  to  volunteer.  Owing  to  the  distance  from  the  seat 
of  Government,  the  muster-rolls  were  not  received  there  until  the  quota 
of  the  State  had  been  filled.  Official  duties  afterwards  prevented  the 
renewal  of  the  offer  of  his  services  to  the  Government. 

The  same  season,  an  election  was  held  for  delegates  to  a  Convention 
for  the  Revision  of  the  Constitution.  Both  parties  united  in  choosing 
S.  S.  Hayes,  he  receiving  several  hundred  more  votes  than  his  colleague, 
an  old  and  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  White  County.  When  the  Con- 
vention met,  he  was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Law 
Reform.  He  reported  a  proposition  to  simplify  and  systematize  the  laws 
of  the  State,  statutory  and  common,  by  the  framing  of  a  Code.  After  a 
severe  struggle,  the  proposition  was  defeated;  but  its  defeat  is  so  plainly 
seen  and  generally  admitted  to  have  been  a  grave  mistake,  that  the  next 
Constitutional  Convention  will,  without  doubt,  make  provision  for  the 
codification  of  our  laws.  Mr.  Hayes  also  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
debates  of  the  Convention,  and  introduced  several  of  the  clauses  whicli 
were  incorporated  into  the  Constitution  then  framed,  and  still  existing 
unchanged. 

In  the  autumn  of  1848,  Mr.  Hayes  was  constantly  on  the  stump  in 
Southern  Illinois,  canvassing  for  Cass  and  Butler.  He  was  a  successful 
candidate  for  Presidential  Elector;  also  for  re-election  to  the  State 
Legislature.  As  a  token  of  his  appreciation  of  the  distinguished  political 
services  rendered  by  ISIr.  Hayes,  Governor  French  gave  him  the  honorary 
appointment  of  Aid-de-Camp,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel  of  cavalry.  He 
w^as  ag-ain  made  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education.  The  General 
Assembly  of  1848-9  was  long  remembered,  and  is  still,  for  having  granted 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN   HAYES.  639 

an  "oninihiis"  load  of"  special  i-hartors,  in  ojK'n  dofianco  of'tho  Constitution 
iirst  adopttnl.  Tlie  journal  of  the  House  shows  that  Mr,  Hayes  steadily 
voted  against  the  majority,  and  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  stem  the 
tide,  but  to  little  purpose,  exei'pt  as  plaeiug  himself  right  on  the  record. 
Ketiring  from  the  political  arena,  Mr.  Hayes,  having  in  the  meanwhile 
removed  to  Chicago,  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  profession.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  here,  he  was  employed  by  the  city  authorities  as  Counselor 
and  City  Solicitor.  He  was  undisturbed  in  his  seclusion  until  Senator 
Douglas  re-opened  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  by  i)roposing  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  CompromLse.  Mr.  Hayes  had  been  a  warm  fi-iend 
of  Mr.  Douglas,  had  aided  in  his  election  to  the  Senate,  and  in  his  famous 
controversy,  at  Chicago,  over  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  had 
sustained  him  against  great  opposition,  connK)sing  the  resolutions  which 
were  oflfered  by  Mr.  Douglas  in  his  meeting,  and  closing  the  argument  in 
a  public  speech  in  reply  to  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Dougla.s,  who  had 
attempted  to  answer  him.  But  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compronuse 
was,  in  the  opinion  of  ]Mr.  Hayes,  a  most  dangerous  measure,  portentous 
of  evil  to  the  country,  and  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  oppose  it  with  all 
the  energy  in  his  power.  Accordingly,  during  the  pendency  of  the  bill, 
February  8th,  1854,  he  spoke  in  op[)osition  to  it  at  a  mass  meeting  of 
citizens,  held  at  the  South  Market  Hall,  then  the  most  spacious  hall  in 
Chicago.  The  following  extracts  will  give  an  idea  of  the  argument  and 
rhetoric  of  this  speech : 

"It  is  said  that  the  Compromise  of  1820  is  superseded  by  that  of  1850,  because  the 
acts  of  1850  establish  a  principle,  which  principle  supersedes  the  settlement  by  a 
geographical  line  made  in  1820. 

•'Now,  a  settlement  by  a  geographical  line,  so  far  from  being  ridiculous  or  unsatis- 
factory, is  the  most  natural  and  proper  mode  of  settling  a  dispute  about  territory  or 
jurisdiction. 

"Compromises  in  general,  and  that  of  1850  in  particular,  establish  no  principle 
whatever.  An  independent  act  of  legislation  may  settle  a  principle  for  the  time  being, 
but  a  law  which  is  accepted  as  a  part  of  a  compromise  does  not  settle  a  principle  or 
become  a  precedent,  for  it  is  adopted  by  the  votes  or  consent  of  those  who  would  vote 
against  it  standing  alone. 

"Parties  compromise  because  they  cannot  agree  upon  principles,  or  titles,  or  claims. 
Each  believes  that  the  compromise  is  wrong  upon  principle.  lie  does  not  adojit  it  us  a 
development  of  principles,  but  as  a  change  of  relation,  an  agreement  of  peace,  uuil  he  is 
bound  by  it  in  no  other  sense  and  for  no  other  purpose. 

"It  is  of  the  essence  of  a  compromise  that  what  one  parly  has  yieMod  in  tbut  com- 
promise shall  not  be  construed  into  an  admission  either  that  he  had  no  right  to  that,  or 
that  he  should  yield  other  things  of  the  same  nature. 


640  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

"  Hence  it  is  unfair  and  absurd  to  argue  tliat  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  super- 
seded by  any  principle  inconsistent  witli  it,  supposed  to  liave  been  developed  by  tlie  acts 
of  1850 — or  either  of  them. 

"But  these  arguments  are  all  pieces  of  special  pleading,  tissues  of  sophistry, 
unworthy  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  unworthy  of  the  American  people  to  whom 
they  are  addressed. 

"The  Missouri  Compromise  has  its  power,  not  iu  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  in  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  the  people,  North  and  South.  It  was  in  the  power  of  the  very 
next  Congress  to  repeal  the  restriction  contained  in  the  eighth  section  of  that  act.  Yet 
the  other  half  of  the  compact,  the  admission  of  Missouri,  could  not  be  repealed,  and  the 
friends  of  restriction  were  left  with  no  guaranty  but  the  plighted  faith  of  its  enemies  in 
Congress. 

"This  agreement  in  Congress  became  the  agreement  of  the  whole  country,  for  the 
people  accepted  and  sanctioned  it,  and  have  acted  upon  it  ever  since. 

"Therefore  it  is  of  no  importance  to  sift  the  acts  of  1850  for  a  hidden  meaning,  or  a 
technical  construction.  It  is  only  important  to  know  whether  Congress  at  the  time,  or 
the  people  afterwards,  took  them  as  a  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  No  man  can 
be  so  shameless  as  to  say  that  they  did. 

"The  Missouri  Compromise,  then,  is  in  full  force  to-day,  binding  as  strongly  the 
honor  and  conscience  of  the  country  as  it  did  in  1820. 

"Can  the  South,  or  men  who  sympathize  with  the  South,  vote  for  its  repeal?  I 
trust  not.  Their  past  course  in  abiding  by  all  our  compromises  has  been  so  honest  and 
sincere,  so  illustrative  of  that  high  sense  of  personal  honor  which  adorns  the  Southern 
character,  that  I  am  justified  in  saying  they  cannot  do  it.  Now  I  wi.sh  to  say  that  Judge 
Douglas  is  not  authorized  to  speak  for  the  good  people  of  Illinois,  nor  to  commit  them 
upon  this  subject,  for  he  has  never  deigned  to  inquire  their  wishes  upon  it.  The  only 
assurance  which  our  Southern  friends  have  that  Illinois  will  ratify  liis  promises,  is  found 
in  the  plausibility,  talent,  and  tyrannical  spirit  of  the  Senator.  But  I  will  inform  them 
that  we  are  a  hard-necked  people,  not  easily  dragooned  into  submission. 

"Mr.  President,  we  may  individually  be  nothing — we  may  be  poor  and  feeble,  body, 
mind  and  purse,  but  when  we  all  get  together  and  utter  the  majestic  voice  of  public 
opinion,  we  make  our  recreant  rulers  tremble. 

"We  are  not  Russian  serfs,  to  throw  up  our  hats  for  whatever  our  public  men 
choose  to  concoct.  We  are  not  their  servants,  they  are  ours — bound  to  act  out  our  senti- 
ments, and  vote  for  the  measures  that  we  want.  Who  of  our  people  have  demanded  this 
repudiation  of  a  solemn  contract?  Who  has  advised  it?  Who  have  been  consulted  about 
it?  Where  are  the  petitions  for  it,  the  proceedings  of  public  meetings  in  its  favor?  And 
are  the  people  of  this  sovereign  State  so  mean  and  insignificant  that  they  are  unworthy 
to  be  consulted  by  their  own  agents  before  they  offer  a  measure  which  will  change  the 
entire  relations  of  the  country,  and  be  felt  through  all  coming  time? 

*  *  *  *  ■  *  * 

«« Fellow-citizens,  the  whole  country  had  settled  down  harmoniously  upon  the  Com- 
promise of  1820,  and  the  further  Compromise  of  13-50,  as  sacred,  final  and  irrevocable 
adjustments  of  a  difficult  and  dangerous  dispute,  when  our  Senator  gives  the  signal  for 
strife,  and  plunges  the  nation  again  into  all  the  horrors  of  dissension  which,  perhaps, 
will  lead  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  For  that  he  is  responsible  before  this  nation  and 
the  world. 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN  HAYES.  641 

*««♦*» 
"To  save  the  country  from  these  dangers  tlius  thrust  anew  upon  it  by  our  Senator,  1 
am  lor  giving  this  bill  its  eternal  quietus;  and  1  hope  that  these  resolutions,  requesting 
the  General  Assembly  to  instruct  against  it,  will  receive  a  unanimous  vote." 

In  October,  1855,  Mr.  Douglas  rctunied  to  Chicago  and  addressed  a 
public  meeting  in  defense  of  his  course.  In  that  speech  he  attacked  \\  ith 
severity  ]Mr.  Hayes  and  the  other  Anti-Xebraska  Democrats.  Two  days 
later,  Mr.  Hayes  replied  at  South  ]Market  Hall,  where  a  vast  audience 
assembled  to  listen  to  his  words.  Although  laboring  under  severe  indis- 
position, he  spoke  for  nearly  three  hours,  in  an  eloquent  and  logical 
manner,  and  Mas  rapturously  applauded.  His  speech  M'as  reported  in 
full,  and  after\vards  published  in  pamphlet  form  and  widely  circulated. 

The  following  passages  are  specially  worthy  of  note : 

"But  is  it  no  evil  to  extend  the  area  of  slavery — to  bring  a  new  population  under 
its  blighting  influence?  Is  it  no  evil  to  degrade  labor,  and  compel  the  free  white  man 
to  work,  if  he  works  at  all,  by  the  side  of  slaves? 

"My  fellow-citizens,  give  me  free  men  to  work,  and  not  slaves.  I  speak  to  you 
to-night  for  the  dignity  of  labor.  When  God  formed  man,  when  He  framed  the 
wondrous  mechanism  of  his  body,  and  crowned  him  with  thought  and  immortality,  and 
placed  him,  the  paragon  of  creation,  on  the  virgin  soil  of  the  new-made  earth.  He  said: 
'By  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  earn  thy  bread.'  I  bow  to  that  law  of  the 
Almighty,  and  hail  it  as  the  great  boon  to  the  human  race.  Labor  sustains  the  world. 
It  makes  your  railroads,  builds  your  cities,  fills  your  storehouses,  and  whitens  the  seas 
with  your  commerce.  More  than  that,  it  gives  you  soldiers  for  your  wars,  statesmen  for 
your  councils,  and  covers  your  laud  with  a  manly  and  virtuous  people.  I  fear  not,  there- 
fore, to  appeal  to  you  in  behalf  of  labor,  and  to  ask  you  to  condemn  every  efl'ort  to 
degrade  it  by  the  extension  of  slavery  over  territory  which  by  right  and  compact  should 
be  free. 

****** 

"The  facts  I  have  alluded  to  are  bad  enough,  but  there  are  others  which  are  worse. 

"Our  friends,  the  playmates  of  our  childhood,  our  brothers,  have  taken  their  wives 
and  their  little  ones,  and  their  household  gods,  and  have  gone  to  the  distant  West.  Tliere 
they  have  made  their  inclosures,  and  erected  their  cabins,  and  prepared  to  found  a  new 
State  in  the  far  wilderness.     What  has  befallen  them  ? 

"Some  of  them  have  been  tarred  and  feathered.  Some  have  been  beaten,  some  have 
been  driven  from  their  homes.  Every  species  of  insult  and  outrage  has  been  heaped 
upon  them.  Their  places  of  election  have  been  surrounded  by  armed  hordes  of  rnftians; 
the  ballot-box  has  been  torn  from  their  hands  ;  a  spurious  Legislature  has  been  imposed 
on  them  by  people  of  another  State;  their  local  officers  have  been  elected  for  six  years 
by  that  spurious  Legislature,  and  a  cruel  and  infamous  code  of  laws  has  been  enacted, 
and  is  sought  to  be  fastened  on  their  necks.  The  men  who  have  opened  the  door  for 
all  these  wrongs  talk  to  us  in  dulcet  tones,  in  praise  of  liberty  and  self-government. 
They  are  murdering  liberty.     Liberty  lies  bleeding  on  the  green  sod  of  Kansas.     Dout 


g42  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

you  hear  her  imploring  voice?  Every  west  wind  bears  it  to  our  ears.  'Help,  help  me^ 
sons  of  Washington,  or  I  am  forever  slain.'  What  says  Senator  Douglas?  He  says 
it  is  'none  of  your  business.     You  have  enough  to  attend  to  in  Illinois.' 

****** 
"Let  us  see  whether  the  condition  of  Kansas  is  a  part  of  your  business.  Kansas 
belongs  to  the  United  States.  Her  inhabitants  are  feeble,  and  have  neither  troops  nor 
money  with  which  to  resist  an  invading  army.  If  they  are  not  outcasts,  they  have  a 
right  to  protection.  That  protection  must  come  from  the  United  States,  from  Congress 
or°the  President.  Congress  and  the  President  are  your  agents,  accountable  to  you,  and 
it  is  'your  business'  to  see  that  they  do  their  duty. 

****** 
"No  one  can  believe  that  a  poor  man  would  take  his  wife  and  children,  and  his 
goods,  and  make  a  journey  of  fifteen  hundred  miles  into  a  new  territory  for  any  other 
purpose  than  to  get  a  home.  After  he  has  gone  there,  and  become  a  settler,  he  has  all  a 
settler's  rights,  and  it  matters  not  how  he  got  them;  whether  he  went  as  a  Government 
official,  with  a  fat  salary  of  the  people's  money,  or  as  au  humble  laborer,  too  poor  to 
make  his  way  without  assistance.  That  I  call  the  democratic  doctrine,  and  I  doubt  not 
it  will  be  indorsed  by  the  people  of  this  State,  and  that  they  will  demand  of  their  agents 
to  recognize  the  rights  of  those  settlers,  and  to  protect  them  to  the  fullest  extent. 
*  x-  *  *  *  * 

"Much  has  been  said  in  some  parts  of  the  country  of  the  importance  of  purchasing 
Cuba,  and  of  its  value  as  a  bulwark  to  the  South.  Now,  while  our  Southern  friends  press 
this  matter  on  the  public  attention,  it  would  not  be  amiss  for  us  to  look  in  another 
direction.  The  Northwestern  States  are  soon  to  be  the  centre  of  power  and  population. 
In  view  of  that  fact,  and  iu  view  of  the  fact  that  they  are  situated  on  the  head  waters 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  which  is  soon  to  be  the  great  highway  of  commerce  between 
the  ports  of  Europe  and  the  heart  of  this  continent;  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  mouth 
of  that  river  belongs  to  a  foreign  power,  and  that  the  same  necessity  exists  which 
impelled  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  I  for  one  am  in  favor  of  the  annex- 
ation of  the  British  Provinces  on  our  northern  frontier,  with  the  consent  of  the  people 
of  those  Provinces,  and  I  shall  ask  your  approval  of  a  resolution  to  that  effect." 

Had  Mr.  Hayes  been  swayed  by  selfish  motives,  a  brilliant  career  was 
oifered  him  in  the  Repnblican  party,  which  sprang  up  immediately  after- 
wards, and  owed  its  rise  to  the  measure  he  opposed.  But  he  did  not  favor 
the  abandonment  of  the  distinctive  principle  of  the  Democratic  party 
which  he  regarded  as  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  country.  He  also 
deprecated  the  formation  of  sectional  parties,  which  he  predicted  would 
result  in  civil  war.  Accordingly,  in  1856,  he  was  found  supporting  Mr. 
Buchanan,  who  had  uot  been  connected  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  being  out  of  the  country  at  the  time.  In  1858,  when  Mr. 
Buchanan  disregarded  the  pledges  of  the  Convention  wliich  nominated 
him,  and  used  his  patronage  to  bring  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  slave 
State,  against  the  wishes  of  her  people,  he  took  sides  with  Mr.  Douglas, 
who  remained  true  to  the  pledges  of  his  party,  and  ever  after,  until  the 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN   HAYES.  643 

date  of  his  uutiiuely  death,  ^viU5  one  oi'  t!ie  lirnicst  tnend«  of  that  clLstiii- 
guished  statesman,  luul  lew  persons  enjoyed  liis  eonfidence  to  a  greater 
degree.  In  1860,  he  attended  the  Democratic  Conventions  at  Cliarleston 
and  Baltimore,  to  promote  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Doughus.  After  Yancey 
and  other  conspirators  had  saccceded  in  drawing  olf  most  of  the  Southern 
delegates  and  a  few  Northern  sympathizers  from  the  Convention,  and 
making  a  separate  nomination,  the  chances  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Douglas, 
who  Avas  the  nominee  of  the  majority  of  the  Convention,  became  almost 
hopeless,  but  Mr.  Hayes  went  into  the  canvass  for  him  with  zeal  and 
intrepidity. 

After  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  became  evident  to  those  who 
doubted  it  before,  that  the  country  was  on  the  verge  of  a  civil  war,  which 
had  been  planned  and  prepared  for  by  the  secessionists.  After  "  firing  the 
Southern  heart,"  they  had  arranged  to  "precipitate  the  people  into  revo- 
lution." At  this  critical  time  the  counsels  of  Mr.  Hayes  were  in  favor  of 
great  concessions  to  preserve  peace  and  avert  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  but, 
those  efforts  failing,  to  resist  armed  treason  with  arms  and  defend  the 
Constitution  with  the  last  man  and  the  last  dollar;  and  those  counsels 
doubtless  had  their  inttut'ui'o  on  the  course  of  Mr.  Douglas. 
In  a  letter  to  ^Nlr.  Douglas,  dated  December  18,  1860,  he  says: 

"There  has  beea  some  talk  ia  this  State  about  a  Northwestera  republic,  perhaps 
with  the  idea  of  frightening  the  New  England  States.  I  think  it  dangerous  ground  to 
tread  on,  as  it  tends  to  weaken  the  attachment  of  the  people  to  existing  institutions,  and 
may  yield,  hereafter,  a  harvest  of  evil.  I  trust  our  friends  at  Washington  will  not 
countenance  such  a  project  in  the  least.  We  want  both  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  coasts,  in 
the  event  of  a  division.  Every  politician  who  advocates  the  abandonment  of  the  New 
England  harbors,  or  of  any  State  near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  will  sink  like 
lead.  The  ultimate  destiny  of  the  Northwest  is  to  be  part  of  a  grand  confederacy 
extending  to  both  oceans  and  embracing  all  the  British  Possessions.  I  hope  we  will 
retain  also  the  Mississippi  and  the  Gulf  coast,  and  have  the  West  Indies. 

"I  hope  you  will  not  for  a  moment  lend  your  vast  influence  to  the  idea  that  the  bond 
of  the  Union  has  been  weakened,  or  that  the  Northern  States  will  not  stand  together. 
Do  not  hesitate  to  take  bold  ground  in  favor  of  concession,  if  in  your  judgment  it  will 
keep  the  Southern  States  in  the  Union.  I  think  tiie  people  will  sustain  you.  They  want 
a  settlement.     They  regard  the  territorial  question  as  a  fair  subject  for  compromise." 

That  Mr.  Hayas  had  formed  a  just  conception  of  the  military  resources 
of  the  South,  ai)pears  from  a  speech  made  in  Chicago  in  January,  1861,  in 
which  he  said:  "Subjugation  is  talked  of.  Do  we  understand  what  it 
means?  A  few  days  alone,  in  this  age  of  telegraph  and  railroads,  would 
suffice  the  Southern  States  to  gather  an  army  of  live  hundred  thousand 


644  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

men  with  which  to  repel  invasion  and  to  protect  their  homes.  An  army 
of  a  million  could  not  march  into  the  heart  of  the  South  in  a  year."  *  * 
"Let  us  do  everything  to  avoid  these  terrible  scenes."  However,  when 
the  news  came  that  the  rebels  had  fired  upon  the  flag  of  their  country  and 
captured  Fort  Sumter,  Mr.  Hayes  showed  no  hesitation.  He  advocated 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  by  force,  at  whatever  cost,  and  addressed 
several  public  meetings  on  the  same  night,  encouraging,  animating  and 
arousing  the  people  to  the  defense  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  at 
every  sacrifice. 

Before  the  next  general  election,  in  1862,  martial  law  had  been  declared 
in  the  Northern  States,  and  the  celebrated  Emancipation  Proclamation 
had  been  issued.  These  measures  Mr.  Hayes  believed  to  be  unconstitu- 
tional and  injurious  to  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  in  consequence  he 
favored  an  active  political  opposition  to  the  party  in  power. 

In  the  Democratic  Congressional  Convention  held  in  Chicago,  October 
14,  1862,  Mr.  Hayes  offered  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Convention, 
in  which  the  conduct  of  the  Administration  was  severely  criticised  and 
condemned  for — 

"  1.     The  refusal  to  agree  to  some  measures  of  adjustment  before  the  war  broke  out; 

"2.  The  private  understandings,  treaties  and  compromises  with  traitors  after  acts 
of  treason  committed; 

"3.  The  unnecessary  surrender  of  Norfolk,  with  three  thousand  cannon,  and  of 
Harper's  Ferry,  with  immense  stores  of  arms; 

"4.  The  two  great  defeats  at  Bull  Run  and  Manassas,  and  the  expensive  and 
exhausting  operations  on  the  Peninsula,  and  their  abandonment  at  a  time  when  success 
would  have  been  achieved  by  proper  reinforcements,  all  resulting  from  political  intrigues 
and  a  vacillating,  feeble  policy; 

"5.  The  leniency  of  the  Administration  towards  traitors  in  arms,  and  its  cruelty 
and  injustice  to  loyal  men  both  in  the  rebel  States  and  loyal  States; 

"6.  Its  general  mismanagement  of  the  finances,  squandering  of  the  public  money, 
andinjudicious  resort  to  unequal  and  excessive  taxation; 

"7.  The  wanton  disregard  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  people  of  the  loyal 
States  by  suspending  the  operation  of  their  judicial  tribunals,  and  subjecting  them  to  be 
arrested  and  transported  to  distant  prisons,  upon  mere  suspicion,  or  the  pretense  of 
suspicion,  without  affidavit,  process  or  trial; 

"8.  Proclamations  of  doubtful  constitutionality,  and  calculated  to  strengthen  the 
arms  of  the  rebels,  and  do  injustice  to  loyal  citizens;  and, 

"9.  The  resort  to  ill-advised  schemes  for  the  colonization  of  Africans,  and  especially 
their  removal  from  the  black  labor  States  to  the  white  labor  States." 

The  attitude  of  the  party  towards  the  rebellion,  and  the  principles 
claimed  for  it,  are  defined  in  the  following   terms  : 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN  HAYES.  G45 

"That  the  attempted  secession  of  a  number  of  our  States,  and  the  civil  war  which 
a  part  of  their  people  have  inaugurated,  were,  and  remain  subversive  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  without  justitication  or  excuse.  The  leaders  and  willing  participants 
in  the  rebellion  became  guilty  of  high  treason,  not  against  Abraham  Lincoln,  but  against 
the  United  States.  Their  crime  is  not  changed  by  any  subsequent  act  of  our  public 
servants  prejudicial  to  their  rights,  or  the  rights  of  the  States  in  rebellion,  or  in 
opposition  to  the  United  States  Constitution,  but  they  remain  still  amenable  for  their 
crimes,  as  the  present  public  servants  are  amenable  for  their  crimes,  if  any,  to  the 
punishment  in  such  case  provided  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  land.  The  indi- 
viduals administering  our  government  are  liable  to  impeachment  and  judicial  proceedings 
for  unconstitutional  and  lawless  acts,  and  the  persons  in  rebellion  remain  still  subject  to 
the  penalties  of  high  treason  when  arrested,  and  to  all  the  incidents  of  public  war  while 
they  remain  in  arms  against  their  Government. 

"Resolved,  That  until  the  rebels  lay  down  their  arms  and  return  to  their  allegiance, 
or  until  it  is  clearly  demonstrated  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  the  United  States  to  compel 
them  to  do  so,  the  war  should  be  prosecuted  with  all  the  skill,  courage  and  resources 
of  the  country,  and  the  Democracy  will  support  it  unconditionally,  and  will  demand 
of  all  other  parties  and  persons  that  they  shall  do  the  same. 

"Resolved,  That  a  failure  of  the  present  Administration  to  suppress  the  rebellion 
will  not  demonstrate  that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  United  States  to  suppress  it,  but 
will  only  demonstrate  a  fact,  long  apparent,  that  the  leaders  of  the  party  in  power  are 
not  able  to  govern  this  country  successfully.  Their  faculties  being  crazed  by  fanaticism, 
they  are  deficient  in  that  foresight  and  broad  common  sense,  which  alike  constitute 
statesmanship,  business  capacity  and  military  genius. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  our  duty  to  point  out  the  errors  and  blunders  of  the  Adminis- 
tration, both  in  its  war  policy  and  in  its  domestic  policy,  except  when  the  safety  of  our 
armies  may  require  that  the  expression  of  opinion  be  temporarily  withheld. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  watchword  has  always  been,  and  should  ever  be, 
'The  honor  of  our  flag,  the  constitutional  Union  of  the  States,  and  the  freedom  of  the 
people.' 

"Resolved,  That  obedience  to  the  laws  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen,  and  obedience 
to  the  orders  of  his  commanding  oflBcer  is  the  duty  of  every  soldier,  whether  those  laws 
or  those  orders  be  agreeable  to  him  or  not.  We  therefore  urge  our  gallant  friends  in  the 
army  to  continue  their  heroic  efforts  to  subdue  our  rebel  foes  whenever  and  wherever 
they  may  be  ordered;  and,  if  the  political  conduct  of  our  rulers  displeases  them,  to  fight, 
if  possible,  with  greater  vigor,  in  order  that  the  war  may  be  brought  to  an  earlier  con- 
clusion, and  further  aggressions  upon  the  liberties  of  the  people  prevented. 

"Resolved,  'That  the  people  are  engaged  in  supporting  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  suppressing  rebellion  against  their  authority ;  that  we  are 
not  engaged  in  a  war  of  rapine,  revenge,  or  subjugation;  that  this  is  not  a  contest  against 
populations,  but  against  armed  forces  and  political  organizations;  that  it  is  a  struggle 
carried  on  within  the  United  States,  and  should  be  conducted  by  us  upon  the  highest 
principles  known  to  Christian  civilization.' 

"Resolved,  That  as  oar  soldiers  cannot  strike  for  higher  wages.  Congress  should 
increase  their  pay,  to  keep  pace  with  the  depreciated  currency,  and  the  enhancement 
of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  present  and  of  future  generations  will  bo  duo  to 


g46  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

our  soldiers  and  their  commanders,  for  their  glorious  exploits  upon  battle-fields  which 
will  ever  be  renowned  in  history;  and  the  names  of  McClellan,  and  Buell,  and  Burnside, 
and  Thomas,  and  Rosecrans,  and  Sigel,  and  Meagher,  with  many  of  their  brother  officers, 
will  always  be  illustrious  for  generalship,  self-denial,  and  devotion  to  the  Constitution 

of  their  country. 

"Resolved,  That  the  remedy  for  misgovernment  is  open  discussion,  and  a  fair 
appeal  to  the  ballot-box;  that  secret  political  societies,  in  a  free  country,  are  dangerous 
to  liberty.  Their  tendency  and  their  design  is  to  oppress  the  people,  and  to  cheat  them 
out  of  their  birthright. 

"Resolved,  That  the  enlargement  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  is  a  measure 
of  national  importance,  the  passage  of  which  we  ask  of  Congress. 

"Resolved,  That  the  organization  of  the  Democratic  party  is  not  dependent  in  any 
way  on  the  question  of  negro  slavery;  and  whether  that  institution  should  continue  to 
exist  in  some  of  our  States,  as  it  did  in  all  but  one  at  ihe  time  of  our  Revolutionary  War, 
or  whether  it  shall  cease  in  all  the  States,  as  may 'be  the  course  of  events,  this  time- 
honored  party  of  the  people  will  continue  its  struggles  for  constitutional  freedom." 

Had  this  platform  been  adopted  by  the  Democratic  National  Con- 
vention of  1864,  the  result  of  the  Presidential  election  of  that  year  might 
have  been  different. 

The  following  are  the  views  of  Mr.  Hayes  in  regard  to  the  present 
condition  and  politics  of  the  country,  as  expressed  in  a  letter,  January  19, 
1867,  to  the  Hon.  Charles  Mason,  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  National 
Committee  at  Washington : 

"I  have  had  by  me  some  time  your  letter  asking  my  opinion  about  certain  political 
matters.  *  *  *  *  I  am  compelled  to  write  hastily,  and  give  you 

only  my  conclusions,  imperfect  as  they  are. 

"1.  Whatever  may  be  the  cause,  the  rciult  (of  the  Republican  successes  of  1866) 
clearly  is,  that  all  power  over  these  questions  has  been  committed  by  the  people  to  the 
Republican  Congress,  subject  only  to  the  restraining  influence  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Until  Congress  have  refused  to  act,  or  have  fully  acted  upon  these  subjects,  it  seems  to 
me  the  interposition  of  the  Democratic  party  would  be  premature  and  hurtful.  Let 
Congress  and  the  Southern  people  come  together  without  the  interference  or  advice  of 
the  Democracy;  perhaps  it  will  be  best  for  all  parties. 

"2.  In  my  opinion,  the  Democratic  party  cannot,  as  a  party,  adopt  the  dogma  of 
negro  equality.     The    attempt  to  engraft  it  upon  its  creed  is  the  dissolution  of  the  party. 

"3.  The  Democracy,  while  respecting  the  patriotism  and  purity  of  the  Adminis- 
tration, cannot  coalesce  with  it,  or  become  responsible  for  its  policies.  It  must  remain 
free  to  declare  its  own  policy,  dictated  by  wise  forecast  and  statesmanship.  It  seems  to 
me  that  policy  will  contain  three  features  not  recognized  by  the  Administration. 
First,  The  relative  value  of  the  property  in  the  national  funds  shall  be  maintained  fairly 
and  justly,  without  sacrificing  all  other  interests  to  those  of  its  owners;  to  accomplish 
which,  the  non-interest  bearing  legal  tender  currency  must  be  increased  to  a  proper 
extent.     Second,   The  return  to  specie  payments  must  be  by  the  redemption   of  the 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN   HAYES.  647 

currency  at  its  market  value  immediately  preceding  the  act,  or  by  a  new  coinage  of 
corresponding  value,  thus  avoiding  a  financial  collapse.  Third,  All  special  modes  of 
taxation  to  be  abandoned,  and  a  system  resorted  to  universal  and  just  in  its  operation, 
which  can  only  be  by  direct  taxation  upon  property  according  to  its  value. 

"  I  do  not  see  that  any  good  will  result  from  a  National  Democratic  Convention, 
until  Congress  have  either  acted  finally,  or  failed  to  act  on  the  subject  of  reconstruction. 
If  they  shall  act  wisely  and  successfully,  all  will  be  content.  If  they  fail  to  act,  or  their 
action  prove  abortive,  the  way  will  be  open  for  the  Democracy.  A  great  problem  in 
history  is  being  worked  out,  and  the  course  of  events  cannot  be  hastened  by  the  restless- 
ness or  impatience  of  politicians.  I  hope  that  for  the  present  our  friends  will  leave  the 
responsibility  where  it  has  been  placed  by  the  verdict  of  the  people." 

From  time  to  time  the  subject  of  our  sketch  has  been  honored  by 
marked  evidence  of  the  confidence  of  both  political  parties.  The 
instances  have  been  too  numerous  to  be  embraced  in  this  memoir.  He 
has  been  several  times  elected  to  a  seat  in  tlic  National  Conventions,  and 
once  as  President  of  a  State  Convention  of  his  party;  has  been  twice 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Chicago,  and  has 
had  much  to  do  with  developing  our  admirable  school  system.  The 
estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  tliat  body,  a  large  majority  of  whom  do 
not  agree  with  him  in  politics,  appears  from  the  following  proceedings 
of  the  Board  at  a  regular  meeting,  held  September  3,  1867: 

"Resolved,  That  the  school  building  which  is  being  erected  on  Leavitt  street, 
between  Walnut  and  Fulton  streets,  be  named  and  designated  the  'Hayes  School,'  in 
honor  of  the  Hon.  S.  S.  Hayes,  formerly  a  member  of  this  Board,  and  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  services  rendered  to  the  cause  of  popular  education  as  such  member,  also  as 
City  Comptroller  and  ex-officio  School  Agent,  in  which  latter  position  he  devoted  his 
excellent  financial  capacities  to  the  best  interests  of  the  public  schools. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Buildings  and  Grounds  be  and  the  same  are 
hereby  authorized  and  instructed  to  cause  a  stone  with  the  proper  inscription  to  bo  cut 
and  inserted  in  the  front  of  said  building." 

He  is  at  present  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  State  Industrial  Univcrity, 
having  been  appointed  to  that  position  by  his  Excellency,  Governor 
Oglesby. 

Among  the  various  trusts  wliich  ]\Ir.  Hayes  lias  held,  in  many  respects 
the  most  important,  in  affording  an  opportunity,  not  only  to  prove  his 
abilities,  but  also  to  render  valuable  services  to  the  public,  have  been  the 
office  of  City  Comptroller  of  Chicago,  which  he  held  three  years,  and  the 
appointment  as  a  member  of  tlie  Commission  created  by  Cougro^ss  to 
inquire  into  the  sources  of  national  revenue  and  revise  and  recommend 


648  BIOGEAPHICAL,   SKETCHES. 

improvements  in  the  tax  system  of  the  United  States.  About  the  first 
of  June,  1862,  he  entered  on  the  office  of  City  Comptroller  by  appoint- 
ment of  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council.  His  administration  was,  from 
the  outset  to  the  close,  attended  with  remarkable  success.  Economy,  order 
and  punctuality  were  introduced  in  the  finances  of  the  city;  all  payments 
Avere  regularly  made ;  a  large  floating  debt  was  paid  off;  many  valuable 
amendments  were  procured  to  the  city  charter;  the  city  credit  was  greatly 
improved  and  made  equal  to  that  of  the  Eastern  cities ;  the  market  value 
of  the  city  seven  per  cent,  bonds  was  raised  from  five  per  cent,  discount 
to  seventeen  per  cent,  premium ;  a  large  sura  was  paid  out  for  bounties 
and  the  support  of  soldiers'  families  without  resorting  to  loans ;  and  when 
he  retired  from  office  in  May,  1865,  he  received  from  the  Common  Council 
a  unanimous  vote  of  commendation.  It  was  well  understood  that  unjust 
claims  upon  the  treasury  had  no  possible  chance  of  success  while  he  was 
in  office;  and  that  no  distinction  was  made  among  claimants  on  account 
of  personal  or  party  relations. 

Among  his  acts  giving  evidence  of  financial  skill  and  wisdom,  two 
are  worthy  of  particular  notice.  One  was  procuring  from  the  General 
Assembly  and  the  Common  Council  legislation  by  which  the  owners  of 
city  bonds  could  be  protected  against  casualties,  by  the  indorsement  of 
the  Comptroller  limiting  the  transferable  character  of  the  bonds.  In 
this  way  he  secured  the  school  fund  against  all  danger  from  theft  or 
official  dishonesty.  The  other  was  the  creation  of  a  sinking  fund  for  the 
liquidation  of  the  bonded  debt  of  the  city,  by  procuring  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  requiring  an  annual  tax  of  one  mill  on  all  the  taxable 
l)roperty  of  the  city  for  that  purpose.  That  tax  is  already  yielding  about 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  jDcr  annum,  and  it  will  enable  the  city  to 
pay  all  its  bonds  long  before  they  become  due. 

Shortly  after  he  withdrew  from  the  office  of  Comptroller,  Mr,  Hayes 
was  appointed  one  of  the  three  members  of  the  United  States  Revenue 
Commission,  This  appointment  was  tendered  to  him  without  his 
solicitation.  The  Commission  was  regarded  at  VYashino-ton  as  the  most 
important  ever  created  under  our  Government,  as  its  conclusions  would 
powerfully  affect  not  only  the  public  revenues,  amounting  to  hundreds 
of  millions  per  annum,  and  the  national  debt  of  several  thousand 
millions,  but  also  the  credit  and  ability  of  the  Government  itself,  and 
the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  whole  American  people.  They  were 
empowered  and  directed  by  the  act  of  Congress,  "  to  inquire  and  report 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN   HAYES.  G49 

at  the  earliest  practicable  inoineiit,  upon  the  subject  of  raising;  by  taxation 
such  revenue  as  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
Government,  having;  reji^ard  to,  and  includin.2:,  the  sources  from  whidi 
such  revenue  should  be  drawn,  and  the  best  and  most  (.'flicient  mode  of 
raisini;  the  same,  and  to  report  the  form  of  a  bill;"  and  "to  incpiirc  into 
the  manner  and  efficiency  of  the  present  and  past  methods  of  collectinir 
the  internal  revenue,  and  to  take  testimony,"  etc. 

Following  the  practice  of  Congress  in  the  appointment  of  committees, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  gave  both  of  the  political  parties  of  the 
country  a  representation  on  the  Commission,  two  of  its  members — Messrs. 
AVells  and  Colwell — being  taken  from  the  Republican  imrty,  and  the 
third  from  the  Democratic  party.  For  this  place  several  names  were 
proposed,  but  the  choice  was  finally  made  between  the  Hon.  George  H. 
Pendleton,  Democratic  nominee  lor  Vice-President  at  the  last  Presi- 
dential election,  Avho  was  strongly  urged  by  the  Ohio  delegation,  and 
Mr.  Hayes. 

It  was  with  great  hesitation  and  diffidence  that  Mr.  Hayes  accepted 
the  appointment,  seeing,  as  he  did,  the  vast  responsibility  attached  to  it; 
but,  having  done  so,  he  devoted  his  whole  time  and  all  his  energies  to  the 
performance  of  its  duties.  The  rejiorts  of  the  Revenue  Commission  will 
be  a  lasting  monument  to  tlie  industry,  capacity  and  learning  of  its 
members,  and  for  generations  to  come  will  be  studied  by  the  statesmen 
both  of  this  and  other  countries. 

Taking  his  full  part  in  all  the  labors  of  the  Commission,  Mr.  Hayes 
particularly  distinguished  himself  by  his  report  upon  "The  property  in 
the  funds  and  the  income  derived  therefrom  as  a  source  of  national 
revenue,  the  financial  system  of  the  United  States,  the  creation  of  a 
sinking  fund,  and  taxation  in  general."  Tlie  originality  and  comprehen- 
siveness of  this  re^jort,  its  powerful  argument,  its  bold  and  striking 
enunciation  of  principles,  and  the  masterly  manner  in  which  a  sclieme  is 
projected  and  sustained  for  tiie  payment  of  the  national  debt,  and  the 
reduction  of  all  forms  of  taxation  to  a  simple  and  just  plan,  liave 
attracted  great  attention,  l)oth  in  tliis  country  and  in  iMiropo.  Its 
propositions  have  already  l)een  accepted,  to  a  great  extent,  by  most 
of  the  conventions  held  by  his  party  in  the  diifercnt  States,  as  well  as 
by  large  numbers  of  the  leading  and  thoughtful  men  of  the  other  party. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  they  may  yet  furnish  the  basis  of  the  permanent 
policy  of  the  country. 


650  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  leading  propositions  are  tliree:  1.  That  the  return  to  specie 
payments,  when  made,  should  be  on  the  basis  of  the  gold  value  of  the 
currency  at  the  time.  2.  Property  in  the  public  funds,  being  exempt 
from  local  taxation  and  subject  to  national  taxation,  should  be  subjected 
to  an  increased  tax  for  the  purpose  of  equalization,  and  the  proceeds  held 
as  a  sinking  fund  to  pay  the  principal  of  the  debt.  3.  All  modes  of 
indirect  taxation  should  by  degrees  be  abandoned  in  favor  of  direct 
taxation  upon  all  property  according  to  its  value. 

This  report  extends  over  more  than  fifty  pages,  and  it  is  so  compact 
that  only  an  imperfect  idea  of  its  scope  and  character  can  be  obtained 
without  reading  the  whole.  No  reader  of  this  sketch  will  require  any 
apology  for  presenting  the  extracts  below: 

"In  order  to  settle  this  question,  we  must  be  acquainted  with  the  pecuniary  condition 
of  the  country,  the  prospect  of  any  change  in  it,  and  if  any,  what?  and  especially  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  alfected  by  existing  taxation.  And  first,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  business  is  now,  and  for  some  years  past  has  been,  carried  on  and  debts  contracted 
under  the  operation  of  acts  of  Congress  making  the  unconvertible  notes  of  the  Govern- 
ment a  legal  tender  for  all  debts  except  the  interest  on  a  part,  and  the  interest  and 
principal  of  another  part,  of  the  bonds  of  the  United  States.  These  notes  are  receivable 
for  all  public  dues  except  customs,  and,  with  bank-notes  of  (he  same  value,  compose  the 
currency  of  the  country.  What  is  to  become  of  this  currency?  Will  a  fixed  standard 
of  value  be  again  established?  If  it  will,  when?  Upon  what  principle?  How  will  its 
value  compare  with  the  value  of  the  present  currency  ?  What  will  become  of  the  debts 
now  payable  in  lawful  money  ?     These  are  questions  of  the  utmost  importance. 

*  *  *  ■»  *  * 

"These  principles  are  too  true,  and  too  clear  to  be  disputed.  The  essential  obliga- 
tion of  the  Government  is  to  make  no  change  in  precedent  contracts.  To  leave  both 
creditor  and  debtor  in  the  same  position  as  before  in  regard  to  the  value  of  the  amount 
to  be  paid  by  the  latter  to  the  former,  under  his  contract.  A  Government  has  no  more 
right  to  double  the  amount  of  gold  or  silver  in  a  coin,  than  to  reduce  it  one-half,  without 
a  provision  for  commuting  precedent  debts. 

"Now  apply  these  conclusions  to  the  present  condition  of  things,  and  to  the  propo- 
sitions under  consideration.  There  is  existing  in  the  United  States,  as  I  have  estimated 
above,  $5,500,000,000  of  indebtedness,  payable  in  currency,  and  nearly  all  contracted 
when  that  currency  was  of  quite  as  little  value  as  at  present.  Of  the  small  amount  of 
that  indebtedness  which  was  created  before  the  abandonment  of  the  old  specie  standard, 
the  largest  portion  probably  has  changed  hands  and  been  bought  by  its  present  owners 
with  currency  of  the  reduced  value.  If  practicable,  a  special  provision  might  be  made 
for  those  old  debts,  as  a  special  provision  should  certainly  be  made  for  the  payment 
of  the  gold-bearing  bonds  of  the  Government,  with  their  interest,  with  the  same  amount 
of  the  precious  metals  promised  on  their  face.  This  $5,500,000,000  of  indebtedness 
consists  in  honor  and  conscience  of  obligations  to  pay  currency  or  legal  tender  notes  of 
the  United  States,  both  parties  taking  the  chances  of  the  legislation  of  Congress  and  the 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN   HAYES.  651 

decisions  of  the  courts;  but  both  having  the  right  to  expect  that  ihat  legislation  and 
those  decisions  will  accord  with  common  sense  and  natural  justice.  The  dollar,  the 
legal  standard  of  exchange,  is  (o-day,  as  I  have  stated,  of  the  value  of  sixty-eight  cents. 
Aside  from  the  fluctuating  and  uncertain  value  of  this  standard,  it  is  ^precisely  the  same 
to-day,  for  the  purposes  of  this  inquiry,  as  if  it  were  of  silver  or  gold  debased  from  one 
dollar  to  sixty-eight  cents  in  value.  And  the  questions  are  two-fold;  first,  whether  the 
holder  of  that  sixty-eight  cents'  worth  of  paper  money  or  debased  coin  should  receive 
thirty-two  cents  more  for  it  than  it  is  worth;  and  secondly,  whether  every  person  who 
has  incurred  a  debt  measured  by  that  sixty-eight-cent  measure,  at  so  many  dollars,  shall 
be  compelled  to  give  in  payment  the  same  number  of  dollars,  but  each  having  an 
additional  value  of  thirty-two  cents. 

"  These  two  questions  are  not  necessarily  connected,  for  the  Government  might,  if  it 
chose,  give  the  holders  of  its  notes  forty-six  and  three-quarters  per  cent,  additional  to 
their  actual  value,  without  forcing  other  debtors  to  pay  the  same  additional  forty-six  and 
three-quarters  per  cent.  As  the  Government  cannot  find  the  persons  who  have  lost  the 
difference  between  the  par  value  of  the  legal  tender  notes  and  their  present  value,  as 
those  notes  have  been  the  daily  and  hourly  medium  of  exchange,  and  the  depreciation 
has  fallen  on  the  community  at  large  by  infinitessimal  degrees,  and  not  on  the  present 
holders  to  any  appreciable  extent,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  the  same  community  should 
again  be  taxed  to  present  to  the  present  accidental  holders,  without  any  just  claim  on 
their  part,  tlie  amount  of  that  difference. 

*  *  *  *  #  « 

"I  think  it  necessarily  follows,  from  the  principles  laid  down  by  McCulloch,  which 
are  the  essential  principles  of  justice  and  right,  that  our  Government  cannot,  in  good 
conscience,  return  to  the  specie  standard,  without  fixing  that  standard  as  near  as  may  be 
to  equal  the  value,  at  the  time  of  the  change,  of  the  standard  for  which  it  is  made  the 
substitute;  or,  commuting  the  liabilities  existing  under  the  present  standard,  so  that  the 
actual  payment  shall  be  the  value  of  the  amount  promised,  when  the  promise  was  made, 
or,  as  the  nearest  approximation  to  that,  and  only  fair  substitute  for  it,  its  value  imme- 
diately before  the  provision  is  made  for  the  redemption  or  change  of  the  currency. 

"How  the  new  coinage  should  be  regulated,  if  a  new  coinage  would  answer  the 
purpose  best,  and  the  practical  means  of  introducing  it,  are  purely  matters  of  detail. 

"I  suppose  the  Government  paper  dollar  might  be  left  as  now,  a  legal  tender  for 
debts,  and  be  made  convertible  into  new  coin  at  the  Treasury,  upon  presentation,  and  the 
whole  work  will  have  been  done,  without  injustice,  without  injury  to  individuals,  without 
lessening  the  revenues,  without  retarding  for  one  moment  the  grand  development  of  the 
material  interests  of  the  American  people. 

"Should  the  other  alternative  be  resorted  to,  and  continued,  that  of  adding  arbitra- 
rily, either  at  once  or  by  successive  steps,  to  existing  indebtedness,  we  have  reason  to 
fear  the  most  disastrous  effects  upon  trade,  commerce,  and  the  general  welfare.  Such 
effects  were  experienced  by  Great  Britain  under  a  similar  policy,  which  was  protested 
against,  at  the  time,  by  many  of  her  most  upright  and  able  men,  and  occasioned  a  loss  to 
the  community  greater,  perhaps,  than  the  expenses  of  the  preceding  war.  The  slower 
process  produces  less  immediate  injury.  It  enables  business  men  to  close  up  their 
affairs,  but  it  impoverishes  a  country  as  much  in  the  long  run.  Hope  is  (he  great 
incentive  to  human  action,  and  with  the  prospect  of  future  gain  or  profit  withdrawn, 
production  is  always  greatly  diminished. 


652  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

"The  resources  of  the  country  should  not  be  overlooked.  Extending  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  and  from  the  extreme  north  to  the  torrid  zone  ;  embracing  every  variety  of  climate 
and  of  productions ;  on  one  side  open  to  the  commerce  of  Europe,  on  the  other  to  the 
commerce  of  Asia ;  connected  with  the  seaboard  by  chains  of  great  lakes,  and  by  rivers, 
navigable  for  thousands  of  miles,  with  numerous  branches,  also  navigable ;  the  settled 
region  larger  than  France,  and  webbed  over  with  railroads ;  an  internal  trade  equal  to 
all  the  foreign  trade  of  all  civilized  nations  combined;  with  over  a  million  square  miles 
of  rich,  virgin  soil  untilled  and  unoccupied;  with  wide-spread  and  inexhaustible  beds 
and  veins  of  coal,  iron,  lead,  copper,  silver,  and  other  minerals ;  with  forests  of  vast 
extent;  with  a  manly,  vigorous,  and  inventive  population  of  over  thirty  millions, 
increasing  thirty-five  per  cent,  every  decade;  with  a  government  which  has  withstood 
every  trial,  and  was  made  and  is  conducted  by  the  people  who  are  subject  to  it; — this 
country,  it  may  be  truly  said,  has  abundant  resources. 

****** 

"  All  the  elements  for  the  solution  of  the  question  before  us  have  now  been  brought 
together.  Group  them  in  any  way,  they  can  lead  the  thoughtful  mind  to  but  one  conclu- 
sion.    They  establish  beyond  all  controversy  the  following  propositions: 

"1.  Our  debt  is  not  excessively  large  compared  with  our  means  of  payment.  The 
interest  paid  is  unreasonable  and  extravagant. 

"2.  For  want  of  further  taxes  upon  the  property  in  the  public  securities,  the  most 
glaring  and  tremendous  inequality  and  injustice  exist,  to  the  advantage  of  a  special  class, 
who  hold,  free  of  public  burdens,  one-sixtli  of  the  whole  of  the  property  in  tlie  United 
States,  and  to  the  injury  and  irritation  of  nearly  all  the  tax-payers  and  voters  in  the 
country,  who  have  the  power  to  obtain  justice  through  the  ballot-box,  and  will  have  the 
opportunity  of  using  that  power  in  less  than  three  years.  A  tax  of  about  one  per  cent, 
on  the  property  in  those  securities  would  equalize,  to  a  satisfactory  extent,  the  entire 
present  amount  of  taxation  on  the  accumulations,  the  real  and  personal  estate  of  all 
property  owners. 

"3.  There  is  no  contract,  moral  obligation,  or  law,  which  forbids  the  imposition 
of  that  tax. 

"4.  It  is  required  by  other  considerations  of  public  policy  of  the  most  weighty 
character, 

•'Justice,  in  every  sense,  is  the  highest  duty  of  all  Governments.  They  are  ordained 
by  the  Almighty  to  administer  justice,  and  to  claim  as  His  representatives  the  obedience 
of  their  subjects.  Like  Him,  they  should  administer  that  justice  in  mercy,  and  render 
to  every  man  his  due.  No  reasons  however  specious,  no  necessities  however  urgent,  can 
excuse  a  delay  or  refusal  to  fulfil  this  requirement. 

****** 

"It  follows  that  the  essential  question  for  every  government,  which,  as  has  been 
said,  is  but  the  aggregate  of  individuals,  is  the  same  as  for  the  individuals  themselves, 
whether  an  act  is  right  or  wrong  in  itself,  and  whether  it  will  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
community,  and  the  general  happiness  of  mankind.  Acting  upon  these  principles,  there 
can  be  no  foreign  war  but  a  war  of  defence,  and  no  internal  tumult  but  from  the 
rejoicings  of  a  free  and  prosperous  people.  Having  no  wish  to  rob  or  wrong  any,  or  to 
withhold  from  them  their  dues  until  the  accomplishment  of  a  special  purpose,  whether 
to  favor  a  clique  or  fund  a  loan,  if  its  affairs  be  discreetly  managed,  all  will  trust  it 
without  fear,  and  it  will  have  a  real  and  invulnerable  credit. 


SAMUEL   SNOWDEX   HAYES.  653 

*  «  *  *  *  • 
"The  fact  of  this  exemption,  with  no  cquivnlont  taxation,  is  known,  and  is  causing 

irritation  all  over  the  land.  It  is  felt  as  a  liard  and  unjust  discrimination  against  those 
who  have  tied  themselves  to  the  country  by  becoming  owners  of  tlie  soil,  and  wlio  are 
using  their  means  in  adding  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation  by  fair  and  honest  industry. 
Explain  to  them  that  it  was  right  to  secure  the  national  funds  and  credit  from  the  danger 
of  destructive  taxation  by  the  States,  reserving  to  the  United  Stales  the  sole  power  to 
tax;  and  exercise  that  power,  so  that  the  burden  may  be  borne  by  all  alike,  and  they 
will  be  satisfied.  Refuse  to  exercise  that  power,  and  men  may  be  elected  to  office  who 
will  exercise  it,  and  that  to  destroy. 

*  «  «  «  «  * 

"  There  can  be  no  time  for  such  action  so  favorable  as  the  present,  when  the  voice 
of  party  is  still,  and  before  the  distresses  of  the  country  have  become  great.  It  may 
happen  soon,  and  will  happen  if  the  pressure  and  contraction  policy  be  adopted  and 
carried  far,  that  commercial  bankruptcy  and  general  suffering  will  co-exist  with  political 
excitement  and  the  agitation  of  a  presidential  election.  All  taxes  at  that  time  will  be 
paid  with  difficulty  and  reluctance.  There  is  danger  that  then  the  owners  of  the  fifteen 
thousand  millions  of  property  subject  to  local  taxation,  uniting  with  the  classes  who  own 
no  property,  but  who  are  heavily  taxed  in  their  consumption  and  industry  on  account  of 
the  national  debt,  all  of  whom  aid  in,  and  who,  together,  can  control  beyond  question 
the  election  of  members  of  Congress,  will,  under  the  impulse  of  resentment  and  suflFering, 
go  past  the  ground  of  equalization  of  taxes,  and  upon  some  plausible  pretext  demand  and 
procure  legislation  of  the  most  radical  and  dangerous  character. 

****** 
'*  But  this  is  not  all.  The  local  taxes  are  apportioned  upon  the  just  principle  of 
assessment  upon  property.  The  owner  of  one  hundred  tliousand  dollars'  worth  pays  one 
hundred  times  the  amount  paid  by  the  owner  of  one  thousand  dollars'  worth,  because  he 
is  presumed  to  have  one  hundred  limes  the  ability  to  pay,  and  one  hundred  times  the 
amount  of  property  to  be  protected.  For  the  protection  of  other  rights,  the  man  of 
small  property  pays  more  than  his  proportion  by  his  personal  services  on  juries,  on  the 
posse  comitatus,  and  in  the  army. 

****** 
"Now,  it  must  be  stated  that  indirect  taxes  are  not  apportioned  either  according  to 
the  ability  of  the  tax-payer,  or  to  the  value  of  the  property  protected,  but  upon  the 
opposite  principle;  they  are  apportioned  so  as  to  increase  as  his  means  of  payment 
diminish,  and  they  operate  in  .in  inverse  ratio  and  with  compound  force  in  proportion  to 
his  poverty.  The  eifect  is,  that  the  weight  of  taxation  falls  but  lightly  on  the  very 
wealthy  or  the  privileged  classes.  The  capitalist  whose  direct  tax  upon  a  million,  at  the 
rate  of  two  per  cent.,  would  be  twenty  thousand  dollars,  pays,  under  the  indirect  system, 
but  three  thousand,  if  his  consumption  be  twelve  thousand  dollars  and  the  amount  of 
taxation  be  equivalent  to  one-fourth.  The  person  of  middle  means,  whose  direct  tax 
upon  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property,  at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent.,  would  be  twenty 
dollars,  pays,  under  the  indirect  system,  two  hundred  dollars,  if  his  consumption  be  eight 
hundred.  The  poor  man,  whose  direct  tax  upon  a  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  property,  at 
the  rate  of  two  per  cent.,  would  be  two  dollars,  pays,  under  the  indirect  system,  one 
hundred  dollars,  if  his  consumption  be  four  hundred  dollars.  If  the  middle  and  poor 
classes  find  their  income  insufficient  to  pay  tliese  indirect  taxes  and  afford  them  tlie  com- 
forts of  life,  they  must  get  along  with  the  necessaries;   if  their  income  will   not  pay  the 


654  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

indirect  faxes  and  afford  them  the  necessaries,  they  must  go  to  the  poor-house  or  die 

of  starvation. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

"The  indirect  system  of  taxation  and  the  special  exemptions  and  privileges  which 
have  been  attached  to  classes  of  persons  possessing  large  property,  or  holding  high 
positions,  have  caused  this  pauperism:  and  the  same  causes  will  produce  the  same  effects 
in  this  country,  unless  the  people  of  middle  and  small  means  here,  do  what  they  would 
do  in  England  if  they  had  the  right  of  suffrage — abolish  forever  all  special  exemptions 
and  privileges,  and  levy  and  raise  the  necessary  revenues  of  the  country  by  an  equal 
apportionment  upon  all  estates,  real  and  personal,  according  to  value. 

"It  is  not  the  opinion  of  the  writer  of  this  report,  that  such  a  measure,  requiring 
time  and  consideration  to  perfect  its  details,  should  be  preceded  by  a  total  abandonment 
of  the  present  revenue  system;  because  the  means  of  supporting  the  Government  and 
providing  for  the  national  obligations,  must  continue  to  be  obtained.  But  it  is  his  opinion 
that  the  present  system  should  be  modified  and  ameliorated  to  the  greatest  possible  extent, 
until  one  more  just  and  perfect  has  been  secured,  by  the  adoption  of  the  requisite  Con- 
stitutional amendment.  It  is  for  that  reason  that,  while  he  has  most  cheerfully  agreed 
with  his  associates  in  reductions  of  taxation,  recommended  6y  the  general  report,  and  in 
modifications  proposed,  which  cannot  fail  to  be  productive  of  good  results,  he  has  also 
agreed  to  the  report  as  a  whole,  notwithstanding  his  preference  for  what  he  conceives  to 
be  a  much  better  system. 

"He  takes  this  occasion  to  say,  however,  that,  so  far  as  any  of  the  particular  modifi- 
cations or  amendments  recommended  by  the  Commission  would  operate  to  increase  the 
tax  upon  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  cotton,  or  anj'  other  article  of  universal  use,  or  of  agricultural 
production  which  must  find  its  market  abroad,  and,  so  far  as  the  same  recommends  pro- 
liibitory  requirements,  to  drive  out  of  business  any  class  of  small  manufacturers,  in  order 
that  the  revenues  may  be  more  certainly  collected  from  a  few  large  manufacturers,  he  is 
compelled  to  differ  from  his  colleagues. 

"  He  goes  with  them  as  far  as  they  go.  He  agrees  with  them,  that  the  excise  sliould 
be  taken  off  of  all  manufactured  articles  as  soon  as  possible ;  but  he  also  holds  that  it  is 
equally  or  more  important  that  the  tax  should  be  removed  from  agriculture,  mining, 
tiausportation,  commerce,  and  exchanges,  and  that,  in  the  shortest  time  consistent  with 
the  general  interests  of  the  country,  the  whole  system  should  be  abandoned  for  a  better. 

****** 

"  The  writer  has  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  such  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution 
ought  to  be  made,  and  should  be  followed  by  universal  direct  taxation,  for  national  pur- 
poses, of  all  the  property  in  the  United  States.  The  sherififs  of  the  different  counties 
might  be  made  the  Government  collectors,  and,  when  collecting  the  State  taxes,  might 
also,  for  a  small  commission  and  at  a  trifling  expense,  collect  the  revenues  of  the  United 
States.  The  effect  of  the  system  would  be  to  put  an  end  to  extravagance  in  public 
expenditures,  to  prevent  any  further  increase  of  the  public  debt,  to  prevent  any  unneces- 
sai-y  foreign  wars,  and  to  secure  a  wise,  frugal,  and  economical  administration  of  public 
affairs;  because  the  tax-payers  would  feel,  as  they  ought  to  do,  the  exact  efl'ect  of  every 
public  burden,  and,  being  advised  in  time  of  every  ailment  affecting  or  threatening  the 
health  and  welfare  of  the  body  politic,  would  be  sure  to  apply  the  proper  remedy,  and  at 
the  right  time.     Should  a  moderate  excise,  confined  to  one   or  two  articles,  the  use  of 


SAMUEL   SXOWDEN   HAYES.  655 

which  is  injurious,  and  a  moderate  tariff,  purely  for  revenue,  be  continued  for  a  short 
term  of  years,  yielding  $150,000,000  per  annum,  a  direct  tax  of  one  per  cent,  will  raise 
at  once,  with  the  special  duties  referred  to,  $320,000,000,  which  will  pay  all  public 
expenses  and  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  add  550,000,000  a  year  to  the  sinking 
fund.  By  the  end  of  a  short  term  of  years,  the  duties  referred  to,  after  having  been 
reduced  from  time  to  time  to  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  property,  could  be  entirely 
removed,  and  from  the  natural  increase  the  same  rate  of  taxation  would  yield  all  the 
moneys  required  by  the  general  Government  for  all  purposes  whatever. 

"A  general  system  of  indirect  taxation,  on  as  large  a  scale  as  ours,  will  either  be 
abandoned  for  a  better,  or  it  will  reduce  the  masses  to  pauperism  and  dependence,  and 
build  up  a  moneyed  aristocracy,  who  will  obtain  and  keep  control  of  the  politics  and 
government  of  the  country.  The  ultimate  result  will  be  revolution,  or  the  loss  by  the 
people  of  the  right  of  suffrage  and  the  overthrow  of  republican  institutions.  The  manner 
in  which  this  system  impoverishes  the  middle  and  poorer  classes,  and  adds  to  the  advan- 
tages of  the  wealthy,  has  already  been  shown.  But  other  active  and  powerful  causes 
will  hasten  the.  catastrophe,  and  develop  the  machinery  by  which  it  will  be  wrought  out. 

"Monopolies  of  every  kind  are  universal.  Monopolies  of  land,  monopolies  of  trans- 
portation, monopolies  of  mauufacturing — corporations,  with  almost  sovereign  powers, 
exist  in  every  State.  Millions  of  acres  of  farming  lands  are  owned  by  some  of  these 
corporations.  They  already  have  their  armies  of  tenants,  employes  and  debtors.  Such 
of  these  corporations  as  have  a  common  business  may  by  degreos  become  consolidated 
and  have  such  power  as  to  prevent  competition,  and  compel  persons  doing  bu.'^iness  wit«h 
them  to  submit  to  their  exactions.  Even  within  these  corporations,  the  process  of  impover- 
ishing the  weak  and  enriching  the  strong  and  skillful  will  be  carried  on  by  combinations 
of  large  stockholders,  to  alternately  raise  and  lower  the  price  of  stocks.  At  length  the 
parties  and  classes  who  control  these  various  corporations  will  practically  constitute  a 
number  of  distinct  oligarchies,  with  their  paid  attorneys  in  the  legislature  of  every 
State,  and  in  Congress,  and  with  their  representatives  and  agents  in  the  lobby.  These 
oligarchies  will  soon  acquire  the  habit  of  uniting  to  enable  each  to  accomplish  its  designs. 
If,  during  this  condition  of  things,  national  questions,  stirring  the  hearts  and  enlisting 
the  feelings  of  the  people,  shall  arise,  the  representatives  of  these  oligarchies  can  unite 
with  able  and  unscrupulous  men  who  may  have  obtained  position,  as  the  leaders  and 
exponents  of  the  feelings  of  the  people  upon  these  exciting  questions.  When  the  influence 
or  power  of  one  part  of  the  league  fails,  that  of  the  other  may  make  up  the  deficiency. 
It  may  also  happen  that,  in  consequence  of  a  peculiar  feature  in  our  constitution,  the 
nrcessity  for  which  has  passed  away,  a  number  of  States  small  in  population,  but  strong 
in  being  the  centre  of  the  organizations  and  monopolies  referred  to,  will  have  almost  a 
controlling  interest  in  one  branch  of  Congress.  It  may  then  happen,  that,  under  the 
pretext  of  a  desire  to  accomplish  the  wishes  of  the  people  upon  the  subjects  in  which 
their  feelings  are  enlisted,  and  through  the  instrumentality  in  part  of  the  constitutional 
provision  which  makes  each  House  the  judge  of  the  elections,  qualifications,  and  returns 
of  its  members,  honest  and  earnest  representatives  will  be  made  use  of  to  deprive  a 
portion  of  the  States  of  their  representation  in  Congress,  and  at  last  (o  reduce  to  the  con- 
dition of  territories  and  deprive  of  the  right  of  suffrage  all  of  the  States,  the  population 
of  which  may  be  free  from  the  control  of  this  combination  of  interests.  It  will  then  be 
an  easy  matter  to  change  the  constitutions  of  States  retaining  the  rights  of  suffrage  and 


656  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

representation,  so  as  to  limit  tLe  power  of  voting  by  property  qualifications,  or  otherwise, 
to  a  smaller  number  of  persons.  It  will  then  also  be  easy  to  enact  laws  of  primogeniture, 
create  orders  of  nobility,  elect  a  President  for  life,  remove  all  restrictions  upon  standing 
armies,  and  the  abuse  of  the  public  moneys,  and  we  will  have  in  full  operation  a  mon- 
archical system  more  despotic  and  oppressive  than  any  which  exists  in  Europe.  It  is  not 
the  interest  even  of  the  capitalists  of  this  country,  that  such  events  and  changes  should 
take  place;  as  by  the  fifth  generation  the  great  mass  of  their  descendants  will  have  been 
reduced  to  the  common  level  of  the  poor,  and  be  exposed  to  the  evils  and  sufferings  inci- 
dent to  oppression.  A  preventive  and  remedy  for  these  evils  will  be  found,  in  part,  in 
adhering  to  universal  suft'rage,  in  restricting  the  ownership  of  land  and  the  misuse  of 
corporate  powers,  and  in  abandoning  the  indirect  system,  with  all  its  special  taxes  on 
agriculture,  mining,  transportation,  manufactures,  commerce,  and  industry  of  every 
kind,  and  resorting  to  direct  and  equal  taxation  upon  all  the  property  in  the  country,  in 
proportion  to  its  value." 


The  following  extract  from  the  reply  of  Mr.  Hayes  to  an  editorial  of 
the  "London  Times/'  attacking  his  financial  report,  is  worthy  of  being 
preserved  in  this  connection: 


"It  is  true  that  the  wisest  legislation  can  only  be  an  approximation,  often  a  slow  and 
distant  approximation,  to  what  is  absolutely  right.  Complex  relations,  important  and 
diverse,  are  to  be  studied,  understood  and  treated.  New  exigencies  are  to  be  met.  And 
often,  amidst  present  difficulties,  reforms  of  great  value  must  be  left  incomplete  for 
another  generation  ;  yet  none  the  less  should  the  statesman  seek  continually  to  know 
and  to  reach  the  highest  and  best  standard. 

"  In  the  management  of  the  public  finances,  I  believe  the  following  conclusions  should 
be  accepted  as  true,  and  applied  in  practice  : 

»'l.  The  normal  condition  of  every  well  governed  State  is  freedom  from  debt,  a 
condition  which  should  not  be  left  but  under  the  most  urgent  necessity,  and  should  be 
returned  to  as  speedily  as  possible. 

"2.  A  government  is  neither  a  trader  nor  a  speculator,  but  an  administrator,  and  is 
bound,  when  it  has  incurred  debts,  to  exhibit  fairly  its  condition,  and  use  honestly  and 
firmly  its  assets,  of  which  the  power  and  resources  of  taxation  are  the  chief  It  is  bound 
to  compel  contributions  from  its  subjects  upon  principles  of  equality,  to  the  extent 
necessary  to  pay  those  debts,  without  dishonest  additions  or  abatement. 

"3.  It  has  no  right,  while  exacting  such  contributions,  to  diminish  the  relitive  value 
of  property,  or  destroy  productive  industry,  by  withdrawing  or  arbitrarily  contracting 
the  currency. 

"4.  Its  financial  as  well  as  its  political  system  should  be  domestic,  and  independent 
of  foreign  governments  and  capitalists.  Self-respect  and  safety  equally  forbid  it  to 
solicit  moneys  from  abroad,  or  to  make  its  securities  payable  outside  of  its  boundaries. 

"As  far  as  the  liabilities  of  the  United  States  are  concerned,  they  seem  to  me  quite 
within  our  means  of  payment,  without  impoverishing  our  people,  and  without  wronging 
our  creditors." 


SAMUEL  SNOWDEN   HAYES.  657 

To  complete  this  sketch,  it  may  bo  j>tatccl  tiiat  ^Ir.  Hayes  is  ti  hiiu:c 
land-owner  in  and  around  Chicago.  He  has  expended  several  hnndreil 
thousand  dollars  in  valuable  buildings,  and  every  year  contributes  largely 
to  the  growth  and  development  of  the  city. 


NOMAN  B.  JUDD. 


Hon.  Normax  B.  Judd,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  at 
Rome,  Onoida  County,  X.  Y.,  January  10,  1815.  His  father,  Norman 
Judd,  a  potter  by  trade,  was  born  in  Goshen,  Littlefield  County,  Conn., 
and  his  mother,  of  the  Vanderhuyden  family,  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  She  was 
descended  from  the  old  Dutch  stock,  to  which  that  part  <>f  the  State 
adjacent  to  the  Hudson  River  owes  so  much  of  its  thrift  and  eneruy. 

Young  Judd  received  the  usual  rudiments  of  education  at  the  common 
schools,  and  finished  his  school  days  at  Grovenor's  High  School  at  Rome, 
having  among  his  schoolmates  Chief  Justice  Caton,  J  Ion.  Anson  Miller, 
and  many  other  rosidcjits  of  Illinois,  who,  since  those  days,  have  risen  to 
eminence.  Uj)on  his  graduation  from  the  school,  he  was  sufHeienlly 
qualified  to  enter  college,  but  he  had  formed  the  resolution  not  to  be  a 
burden  ui^on  his  parents,  but  to  go  to  work  and  earn  a  living  lor  himself. 
The  resolution  was  firmly  formed,  but,  like  most  young  men,  who  have 
just  completed  their  school  days,  and  are  about  to  enter  ujjon  the  j)raetieal 
duties  of  the  world,  he  had  settled  u])on  no  occupation  which  was  to  all'ord 
him  permanent  employment,  and  thus,  for  some  time,  drifted  from  one 
pursuit  to  another,  in  the  endeavor  to  find  that  which  .should  be  most 
congenial  to  his  tastes  and  best  adapted  to  his  talents.  For  six  weeks,  he 
was  employed  in  a  store,  but  the  mercantile  profession  wa.ssoon  an  av(  rsiim 
to  him.  He  then  took  "stick"  in  hand  and  for  two  weeks  stood  at  a 
case  in  the  office  of  the  "  Utica  Observer,"  but  the  fourth  estate  was 
evidently  uncongenial  to  him,  for  shortly  afterwards  we  find  him  in  a 
])hysician's  office,  studying  medicine,  with  the  late  distinguished  Dr. 
Daniel  Brainard  fi>r  a  fellow-student.  From  medicine,  he  gravitated  to 
the  law.     He  had  at  last   fonnd  the  ])rofession  for  which  h(>  was  six'cially 


660  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

qualified^  and  in  whieli  he  was  subsequently  to  achieve  eminence.  He  at 
first  entered  the  office  of  Wheeler  Barnes,  at  Rome,  as  a  student,  and 
afterwards  pursued  his  studies  in  the  offices  of  Stryker  &  Gay,  and 
Foster  &  Stryker,  in  the  same  town ;  and,  in  the  spring  of  1836,  having 
just  attained  his  majority,  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

In  the  meantime.  Judge  Caton,  his  old  schoolmate  and  friend  at 
Grovenor's,  had,  in  common  with  many  other  young  men,  removed  to  the 
A\''est  and  settled  in  Chicago,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  lucrative 
practice!  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Judd,  requesting  him  to  come  to  the  new  city, 
■which  was  then  in  the  day  of  small  beginnings,  but  had  already  com- 
menced to  attract  attention.  The  letter  from  his  friend,  and  the  advantages 
Avhich  the  West  then  held  out  to  young  men,  induced  him  to  accede  to  the 
request,  and  he  arrived  in  Chicago  in  November,  1836,  and  at  once  entered 
into  a  partnership  with  the  afterwards  Chief  Justice.  His  abilities  as  a 
lawyer  immediately  gave  him  a  prominent  position  at  the  bar,  and  secured 
for  him  an  election  as  the  first  City  Attorney,  durnig  the  mayoralty  of 
Hon.  William  B.  Ogden,  in  the  year  1837,  a  position  which  he  filled 
successfully  for  two  years. 

In  1838,  Judge  Caton  removed  to  Plainfield,  111.,  and  the  partnership 
between  him  and  Mr.  Judd  was  dissolved.  Immediately  thereafter,  he 
entered  into  partnership  with  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  and  they  remained 
together  in  the  successful  practice  of  the  law  for  nine  years,  from  1838  to 
1847.  Such  was  the  mutual  confidence  of  the  men  in  each  other  and  the 
perfect  iiarmony  of  the  firm,  that  no  article  of  partnership  or  writings  of 
any  description  ever  passed  between  them,  except  the  ordinary  accounts 
of  an  office. 

During  the  same  year,  he  was  appointed  a  Notary  Public,  and  in  1842 
was  elected  Alderman  of  the  First  Ward  of  the  city,  but  did  not  com- 
mence his  active  political  life  until  1844,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate,  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  from  the  district  of  Cook  and  Lake 
Counties,  to  fill  a  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Hon.  Samuel 
Hoard.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  same  position  in  1846,  and  (the  jSTew- 
Constitution  cutting  off  half  his  term)  again  in  1848.  His  career  in  the 
Senate  was  so  satisfactory  in  the  advancement  of  the  best  interests  of 
Chicago,  that  he  was  sent  back  to  the  Senate  in  1852  and  in  1856.  During 
the  sixteen  years  that  he  was  State  Senator,  he  gave  his  best  energies  and 
abilities  to  secure  the  material  growth  and  prosperity  of  Chicago.  He 
was  actively  engaged,   and  bore   a   prominent   part  in   organizing  and 


NORMAN   B.  JUDD.  661 

perfecting  that  gigantic  railroad  system  mIhcIi,  more  tlian  anything  else, 
has  raised  Chicago  to  her  present  commercial  importance.  lie  also  did 
mncli  to  place  the  impaired  credit  of  the  State  on  a  healthy  basis,  and, 
aided  by  his  close  knowledge  of  the  law  and  his  jiosition  as  an  attorney, 
he  helped  largely  to  mould,  by  legislation,  the  character  and  status  of  the 
courts  of  Chicago  and  Cook  and  Lake  Counties. 

We  come  now  to  an  important  era  in  Mr.  Judd's  political  life,  the 
events  of  which  brought  him  more  prominently  than  ever  before  the 
people  of  the  whole  State.  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compi:omise  was 
agitating  the  entire  country  at  the  election  in  the  autumn  of  1853,  and 
was  the  entering  wedge  that  was  to  divide  parties.  The  Legislature  of 
Illinois,  elected  that  year,  was  made  up  of  three  parties:  Democrats, 
Whigs,  and  Anti-Nebniska  Democrats.  The  Genei*al  Assembly,  in  joint 
session,  was  composed  of  one  hundred  members.  Of  these  the  Whigs 
and  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  numbered  fifty-one,  and  the  Democrats 
forty-nine.  jMr.  Judd  lielonged  to  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats,  and 
was  a  zealous  and  unflinching  advocate  of  their  doctrines,  although  the 
party  was  seemingly  in  a  hopeless  minority.  On  the  assembling  of  the 
General  Assembly,  the  full  strength  of  the  party  Avas  eight,  three 
Senators  and  five  Representatives.  Before  the  election  for  Senator  came 
on,  that  small  minority  was  still  further  reduced  by  the  loss  of  three  of 
its  members,  Hon.  James  Shields,  who  had  voted  to  repeal  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  was  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Mr.  Lincoln  Avas  the  candi- 
date of  the  Whigs,  Avho  had  forty-six  votes.  Judge  Trumbull  Avas  the 
candidate  of  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats,  A\'ho  could  muster  five  votes. 
After  several  ballots,  the  Democrats  dropped  General  Shields,  and  cast 
their  votes  for  Governor  Joel  A.  Matteson.  On  the  nineteenth  ballot,  the 
friends  of  ]Mr.  Lincoln,  at  his  retjuest,  dropped  his  name,  and  joining  the 
Anti-Nebraska  Democrats,  elected  Judge  Trumbull  as  Senator. 

The  action"  of  the  small  minority  in  this  election  caused  an  intense 
excitement  among  the  Whig  politicians  throughout  the  State;  and  after- 
wards, in  18G0,  Avhcn  Mr.  Judd  Avas  a  candidate  for  nomination  by  the 
Republican  party  to  the  offiee  of  Governor,  his  o]i))onents  charged  him 
AA'ith  treachery  and  bad  faith  towards  Mr.  iiincoin.  These  charges  Averc 
so  persistently  pressed  that  Messrs.  George  W.  Dole,  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard 
and  John  IT.  Ivinzie,  AVhigs,  and  old  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  addressed  a 
note  to  him,  infjuiring  into  their  truth.  The  following  letter,  taken  from 
the  Chicago  papers,  is  Mr.  Lincoln's  reply: 


662  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

"Springfield,  December  14,  1859. 
"Messes.  Dole,  Hubbard  and  Brown: 

"  Gentlemen:  Your  favor  of  the  12th  is  at  hand,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  be  able 
to  answer  it.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  take  part  in  any  of  the  rivalries  for  the  guber- 
natorial nomination;  but  the  fear  of  being  misunderstood  upon  that  subject  ought  not 
to  deter  me  from  doing  justice  to  Mr.  Judd,  and  preventing  a  wrong  being  done  to  him 
by  the  use  of  my  name  in  connection  with  alleged  wrongs  to  me. 

"In  answer  to  your  first  question,  as  to  whether  Mr.  Judd  was  guilty  of  any  unfair- 
ness to  me,  at  the  time  of  Senator  Trumbull's  election,  I  answer  unhesitatingly  in  the 
negative.  Mr.  Judd  owed  no  political  allegiance  to  any  party  whose  candidate  I  was. 
He  was  in  tlie  Senate,  holding  over,  having  been  elected  by  a  Democratic  constituency. 
He  never  was  in  any  caucus  of  the  friends  who  sought  to  make  me  United  States  Senator 

never  gave  me  any  pledges  or  promises  to  support  me — and  subsequent  events  have 

greatly  tended  to  prove  the  wisdom,  politically,  of  Mr.  Judd's  course.  The  election  of 
Judge  Trumbull  strongly  tended  to  sustain  and  preserve  the  position  of  that  portion 
of  the  Democrats  who  condemned  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  left  them 
in  a  position  of  joining  with  us  in  forming  the  Republican  party,  as  was  done  at  the 
Bloomington  Convention,  in  1856. 

"During  the  canvass  of  1858,  for  the  Senatorship,  my  belief  was,  and  still  is,  that  I 
had  no  more  sincere  and  faithful  friend  than  Mr.  Judd — certainly  none  whom  I  trusted 
more.  His  position  as  Chairman  of  the  State  Central  Committee  led  to  my  greater 
intercourse  with  him,  and  to  my  giving  him  a  larger  share  of  my  confidence  than  with 
or  to  almost  any  other  friend;  and  I  have  never  suspected  that  that  confidence  was  to 
any  degree  misplaced. 

"My  relations  with  Mr.  Judd  since  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  in  our 
State,  in  185G,  and  especially  since  the  organization  of  the  Legislature  in  February, 
1357,  have  been  so  very  intimate,  that  I  deem  it  an  impossibility  that  he  could  have  been 
dealing  treacherously  with  me.  He  has  also,  at  all  times,  appeared  equally  true  and 
faithful  to  the  party.  In  his  position  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  I  believe  he  did  all 
that  any  man  could  have  done.  The  best  of  us  are  liable  to  common  errors,  which 
become  apparent  by  subsequent  development,  but  I  do  not  now  know  of  a  single  error 
committed  by  Mr.  Judd,  since  he  and  I  have  acted  together  politically. 

"I  had  occasionally  heard  these  insinuations  against  Mr.  Judd,  before  the  receipt 
of  your  letter,  and  in  no  instance  have  I  hesitated  to  pronounce  them  wholly  unjust  to 
the  full  extent  of  my  knowledge  and  belief.  I  have  been,  and  still  am,  very  anxious  to 
ta.ke  no  part  between  the  many  friends,  all  good  and  true,  who  are  mentioned  as  candi- 
dates for  a  Republican  gubernatorial  nomination,  but  I  cannot  feel  that  my  own  honor  is 
quite  clear,  if  I  remain  silent  when  I  Lear  any  one  of  them  assailed  about  matters  of 
which  I  believe  I  know  more  than  his  assailants. 

"I  take  pleasure  in  adding,  that  of  all  the  avowed  friends  I  had  in  the  canvass  of 
last  year,  I  do  not  suspect  any  of  having  acted  treacherously  to  me  or  to  our  cause;  and 
that  there  is  not  one  of  them  in  whose  honesty,  honor  and  integrity  I  to-day  have  greater 
confidence  than  I  have  in  those  of  Mr.  Judd. 

"I  dislike  to  appear  before  the  public  in  this  matter,  but  you  are  at  liberty  to  make 

such  use  of  this  letter  as  you  may  think  justice  requires. 

"Yours,  very  truly, 

"A.  Lincoln.' 


■,1 

i 


NORMAN    13.  JUDD.  663 

In  1856,  ^Ir,  Jiuld  was  a  incinher  of  the  famous  Bloomington  Con- 
vention, that  organized  the  llepublican  party.  He  was  one  of  the  prime 
movers  of  that  Convention,  and  brought  to  bear  upon  it  that  exeeutive 
ability  which  has  always  marked  his  career  in  the  organization  (»f  con- 
ventions, the  managem<-ut  of  canvasses,  and  the  direction  of  great  political 
movements.  His  prominence  in  the  Convention,  both  as  a  counselor  and 
projector,  placed  liim  on  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  secured  for 
him  the  ai^pointment  of  Chairman  of  the  State  Central  Committee — a 
position  which  he  held  during  the  canvass  of  1856,  the  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  Senatorial  campaign  of  1858,  the  canvass  of  1860,  which  resulted 
in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency,  and  until  his  departure 
for  Europe,  in  1861.  During  that  period,  his  practical  experience  and 
cool  judgment  did  much  to  place  the  party  in  the  majority;  and  he 
managed  all  its  canvasses  Avith  remarkable  success.  Kis  forte  was  not  so 
much  on  the  stump,  although  he  was  always  a  clear,  able  and  forcible 
speaker,  as  in  planning  the  battle,  choosing  the  ground,  distributing  the 
forces,  and  governing  their  movements.  In  this  direction  he  brought  a 
rare  generalship  to  bear  upon  campaigns. 

The  next  important  event  in  Mr.  Judd's  political  life,  was  the 
Philadelphia  Convention,  that  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  the  Presi- 
dency, to  which  Mr.  Judd  was  a  delegate  from  Illinois,  and  chairman  of 
the  delegation.  He  Avas  selected  by  the  delegation  as  a  member  of  the 
National  Republican  Committee,  and  continued  in  that  position  until  he 
left  for  Europe.  By  his  efforts  in  that  Committee,  he  secured  Chicago  as 
the  locality  for  the  Republican  Convention  of  1860. 

In  1858,  after  a  consultation  with  Mr.  Judd,  Mr.  Lincoln  concluded 
to  ask  for  a  joint  discussion  Avith  Judge  Douglas,  on  the  great  issues  of 
the  day,  and  delegated  Mr.  Judd  to  hand  the  Judge  the  following  note  in 
the  form  of  a  challenge: 

"Hon.  S.  a.  Douglas: 

"My  Dear  Sir:  Will  it  be  agreeable  to  you  to  make  an  arrangement  for  you  and 
myself  to  divide  time  and  address  the  same  audiences  the  present  canvass?  Mr.  .ludd, 
who  will  hand  you  this,  is  authorized  to  receive  your  answer,  and,  if  agreeable  to  you,  to 
enter  into  the  terms  of  such  an  arrangement. 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"A.   Lincoln." 

This  note  was  the  preliminary  move  which  led  to  the  memorable 
debate,  the   executive   part   of  which  was    managed   by   Mr.   Ju«ld   for 


664  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Mr.  Lincoln.  Both  the  eminent  disputants  are  dead — the  one  by  the 
hand  of  the  assassin,  the  other  after  lingering  illness — but  the  debate  in 
which  they  were  the  participants  will  always  live  as  one  of  the  most 
memorable  events  in  the  political  history  of  the  country. 

The  next  political  movement  in  which  Mr.  Judd  M^as  prominently 
engaged,  was  the  Convention  that  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the 
Presidency,  held  in  Chicago  in  1860,  in  which  he  ^vas  chairman  of  the 
Illinois  delegation.  The  contest  in  the  Convention  was  virtually  between 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Seward,  under  the  leadership  of  the  New  York  dele- 
gation, and  the  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Illinois  delegation.  Mr.  Seward  was  placed  in  nomination,  in  behalf  of 
the  New  York  delegation,  by  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts,  and  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  behalf  of  the  Illinois  delegation,  by  Mr.  Judd.  The  contest  througliout 
was  one  of  the  most  animated  ever  known  in  the  history  of  political 
conventions.  Mr.  Seward's  interests  were  in  tlie  hands  of  some  of  the 
most  astute  and  influential  politicians  of  the  East,  and  some  of  the  promi- 
nent party  leaders  of  the  West.  At  the  outset,  Mr.  Seward's  chances 
seemed  the  most  favorable;  but  the  ground  had  been  carefully  reviewed, 
and  the  preliminaries  had  been  as  carefully  planned  by  Mr.  Judd  and  his 
friends ;  and,  althouo-h  the  struo-o-le  was  a  lono;  and  severe  one,  INIr.  Judd's 
generalship  was  again  successful,  and,  on  the  tliird  l^allot,  Mr.  Lincoln 
received  the  unanimous  nomination  of  the  Convention,  to  be  the  standard- 
bearer  of  the  Republican  party. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected,  and  Mr.  Judd  Avas  one  of  the  party  tliat 
accompanied  him  from  Springfield  to  Washington  to  assume  the  duties 
of  President.  A  conspiracy  was  discovered  to  assassinate  Mr.  Lincoln  on 
his  passage  through  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Judd's  connection  witli  the 
counter  plans  to  preserve  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  forms  one  of  the  most 
interesting  passages  in  his  liistory.  The  following  letter,  addi-essed  to 
Mr.  Allan  Pinkerton,  the  well-known  detective  officer,  and  published  by 
the  newspaper  press,  explains  fully  the  means  adopted,  and  jNIr.  Judd's 
relations  thereto : 

"Chicago,  111.,  November  3,  1867. 
"Mk.  Allan  Pinkerton: 

"Sir:     Yours  of  the  81st  ultimo,  inclosing  a  letter  of  Mr.  Kennedy  to  Mr.  Lossing 

relating  to  the  conspiracy  to  assassinate  Mr.  Lincoln  on  his  passage  through  Baltimore, 

in  February,  1861,  and  printed  in  the  second  volume  of  Mr.  Lossing's  'History  of  the 

AVar,'  I  found    on  my  table  last   evening,  on   my  return  from  the    country.     Notwith- 

>:tanding  the  various  publications  in  the  papers  purporting  to   give  accounts  of   that 


NORMAN    B.  JTJDD.  665 

matter,  some  of  which  were  grossly  inaccurate,  I  have  refrained  from  publishing  any- 
thing in  relation  thereto.  But  the  historian  is  making  a  permanent  record,  and  I  cannot, 
injustice  to  you,  refuse  to  make  a  statement  of  the  facts  within  my  personal  knowledge. 

"As  you  suggest,  I  was  one  of  the  party  which  accompanied  Mr.  Lincoln  from 
Springfield  to  Washington.  When  the  party  reached  Cincinnati,  I  received  a  letter  from 
you  dated  at  Baltimore,  stating  that  there  was  a  plot  on  foot  to  assassinate  Mr.  Lincoln 
on  his  passage  through  that  city,  and  that  you  would  communicate  further  as  the  party 
progressed  eastward.  Knowing  that  you  were  at  that  point  with  your  detective  force 
for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Railroad  against  the 
attempts  by  the  traitors  to  destroy  the  same,  the  information  thus  sent  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  me,  but  to  avoid  causing  anxiety  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  any 
of  the  party,  I  kept  this  information  to  myself.  At  Buffalo  I  received  a  second  brief  note 
from  you,  saying  that  the  evidence  was  accumulating.  No  further  communication,  on 
that  subject,  was  received  until  we  arrived  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  the  evening  of 
the  day  of  our  arrival  at  the  Astor  House,  a  servant  came  to  my  room  and  informed  me 
that  there  was  a  lady  in  No.  — ,  who  wished  to  see  me.  General  Pope  was  in  my  room  at 
the  time.  I  followed  the  servant  to  one  of  the  upper  rooms  of  the  hotel,  where,  upon 
entering,  I  found  a  lady  seated  at  a  table,  with  some  papers  before  her.  She  arose  as  I 
entered,  and  said:  'Mr.  Judd,  I  presume,'  and  I  responded:  'Yes,  Madam,'  and  she 
handed  me  a  letter  from  you,  introducing  her  as  Mrs.  Warn,  superintendent  of  the  female 
detective  department  of  your  police  force.  She  stated  that  you  did  not  like  to  trust  the 
mail  in  so  important  a  matter,  and  that  she  had  been  sent  to  arrange  for  a  personal 
interview  between  yourself  and  me,  at  which  all  the  proofs  relating  to  the  conspiracy 
could  be  submitted  to  me.  It  was  accordingly  arranged  that  immediately  on  the  arrival 
of  the  party  in  Philadelphia  you  should  notify  me  at  what  place  I  should  meet  you.  I 
informed  her  that  I  shauld  be  in  the  carriage  with  Mr.  Lincoln  from  the  depot  to  the 
Continental  Hotel.  During  this  interview  with  Mrs.  Warn,  Colonel  E.  S.  Sanford,  Presi- 
dent of  the  .Vmerican  Telegraph  Company,  called,  and  Mrs.  Warn  introduced  him  to  me. 
He  showed  me  the  letter  from  you  to  him  relating  to  this  affair,  and  tendered  me  the  use 
of  his  lines  for  any  communication  I  might  have  to  make,  and  also  his  personal  services, 
if  needed. 

"At  Philadelphia,  while  riding  from  the  depot  to  the  hotel  in  the  carriage  with 
Mr.  Lincoln,  a  file  of  policemen  being  on  each  side  of  the  carriage,  I  saw  a  young  man 
walking  on  the  outside  of  the  line  of  policemen,  who  was  evidently  trying  to  attract  my 
attention.  At  about  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Chestnut  streets,  the  young  man  crowded 
through  the  line  of  policemen,  nearly  upsetting  two  of  them,  came  to  the  side  of  the 
carriage  and  handed  me  a  piece  of  paper,  on  which  was  written  'St.  Louis  Hotel;  ask 
for  T.  H.  Hutchinson.'  I  afterwards  ascertained  that  the  messenger  was  Mr.  Burns,  one 
of  Colonel  Sanford's  telegraphic  force.  Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  carriage  at 
the  Continental,  I  went  to  the  St.  Louis  Hotel,  and  being  shown  up  to  Hutchinson's  room, 
I  found  you  and  Mr.  S.  M.  Felton,  President  of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Balti- 
more Railroad  Company,  together  awaiting  my  arrival.  An  hour  or  more  was  spent  in 
examining  and  analyzing  the  proofs  upon  which  you  based  your  belief  in  the  plot,  and 
the  result  was  a  perfect  conviction  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Felton  and  myself  that  the  plot 
was  a  reality,  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  safety  required  him  to  proceed  to  Washington  that 
evening,  in  the  eleven  o'clock  train.     I  expressed  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Lincoln  would  not 


666  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

go  on  that  night,  but  I  proposed  that  you  should  immediately  accompany  me  to  the  Conti- 
nental Hotel  and  lay  the  proofs  before  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  he  was  an  old  acquaintance  and 
friend  of  yours,  and  to  my  knowledge  had  occasion,  before  this  time,  to  test  your 
reliability  and  prudence.  On  proceeding  to  the  hotel,  we  found  the  people  assembled  in 
Buch  masses  that  our  only  means  of  entrance  was  through  the  rear  by  the  serTants'  door. 
We  went  to  my  room,  which  was  on  the  same  floor  with  the  ladies'  parlor,  and  sent  for 
Mr.  Lincoln.  He  was  then  in  one  of  the  large  parlors,  surrounded  by  ladies  and  gentle- 
men. I  think  Mr.  Nicolay,  his  private  secretary,  took  the  message  to  him.  Mr.  Lincoln 
came  to  my  room,  forcing  his  way  through  the  crowd,  and  all  the  proofs  and  facts  were 
laid  before  him  in  detail,  he  canvassing  them  and  subjecting  you  to  a  thorough  cross- 
examination.  After  this  had  been  done,  I  stated  to  him  the  conclusion  to  which  Mr. 
Felton,  yourself  and  myself  had  arrived.  But  I  added:  'The  proofs  that  have  now  been 
laid  before  you  cannot  be  published,  as  it  would  involve  the  lives  of  several  of  Mr. 
Pinkerton's  force,  and  especially  that  of  poor  Tim.  Webster,'  who  was  then  serving  in 
a  rebel  cavalry  company  under  drill  at  Merryman's,  in  Maryland.  I  further  remarked 
to  Mr.  Lincoln:  'If  you  follow  the  course  suggested,  of  proceeding  to  Washington 
to-night,  you  will  necessarily  be  subjected  to  the  scoffs  and  sneers  of  your  enemies,  and 
the  disapproval  of  your  friends,  who  cannot  be  made  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  so 
desperate  a  plot.'  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  that  he  'appreciated  these  suggestions,'  but  that 
he  'could  stand  anything  that  was  necessary.'  Then,  rising  from  his  seat,  he  said:  'I 
cannot  go  to-night.  I  have  promised  to  raise  the  flag  over  Independence  Hall  to-morrow 
morning,  and  to  visit  the  Legislature  at  Harrisburg;  beyond  that  I  have  no  engagements. 
Any  plan  that  may  be  adopted  that  will  enable  me  to  fulfill  these  two  promises,  I  will 
carry  out,  and  you  can  tell  me  what  is  concluded  upon  to-morrow.'  Mr.  Lincoln  then  left 
the  room,  without  any  apparent  agitation.  During  this  interview,  Colonel  Ward  H.  Lamon 
entered  the  room,  but  left  immediately.  A  few  minutes  after,  Mr.  Henry  Sanford,  as  tho 
representative  of  Colonel  E.  S.  Sanford,  President  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company, 
came  into  the  room.  You  then  left  for  the  purpose  of  finding  Thomas  A.  Scott,  Esq., 
Vice-President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad,  and  also  to  notify  Mr.  Felton,  who 
was  waiting,  at  the  Lapeer  House,  your  report  of  the  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"About  twelve  o'clock  you  returned,  bringing  with  you  Mr.  Q.  C.  Franciscus, 
General  Manager  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad,  saying  that  you  were  not  able 
to  find  Mr.  Scott,  who  was  out  of  town.  A  full  discussion  of  the  entire  matter  was  had 
between  us,  the  party  consisting  of  Mr.  Franciscus,  Mr.  Sanford,  yourself  and  myself. 
After  all  the  contingencies  that  could  be  imagined  had  been  discussed,  the  following 
programme  was  adopted:  That  after  the  reception  at  Harrisburg,  a  special  train  should 
leave  the  latter  place  at  six  p.  m.,  consisting  of  a  baggage  car  and  one  passenger  car,  to 
convey  Mr.  Lincoln  and  one  companion  back  to  Philadelphia ;  that  that  train  was  to  be 
under  the  control  of  Mr.  Franciscus  and  Mr.  Enoch  Lewis,  General  Superintendent;  that 
the  track  was  to  be  cleared  of  everything  between  Harrisburg  and  Philadelphia,  from 
half-past  five  until  after  the  passage  of  the  special  train ;  that  Mr.  Felton  should  detain 
the  eleven  o'clock,  p.  m.,  Baltimore  train,  until  the  arrival  of  the  special  train  from 
Harrisburg;  that  Mrs.  Warn  should  engage  berths  in  the  sleeping-car  bound  for  Balti- 
more; that  you  should  meet  Mr.  Lincoln  with  a  carriage  at  West  Philadelphia  on  the 
arrival  of  the  special  train,  and  carry  him  to  the  Baltimore  train ;  that  Mr.  Sanford  was 
to  make  it  perfectly  certain  that  no  telegraphic  message  should  pass  over  the  wires  from 


NORMAN    B.  JUDD.  667 

six  o'clock  the  next  evening  until  Mr.  Lincoln's  arrival  in  Washington  should  be  known; 
that  Ward  H.  Lamon  should  accompany  ^Ir.  Lincoln. 

"Every  supposed  possible  contingency  was  discussed  and  re-discussed,  and  that 
party  separated  at  half-past  lour  that  morning,  to  carry  out  (he  programme  agreed  upon. 
At  six  that  morning,  Mr.  Lincoln  fulfilled  his  promise  by  raising  the  flag  over  Inde- 
pendence Hall;  and  I  have  always  believed  that  the  tinge  of  sadness  whicli  pervaded  his 
remarks  on  that  occasion,  and  the  reference  to  sacrificing  himself  for  his  country,  were 
induced  by  the  incidents  of  the  night  preceding. 

"Later  in  the  morning,  and  I  think  about  eight  o'clock,  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  for  me  to 
come  to  his  room.  I  went,  and  found  Mr.  Frederick  AV.  Seward  with  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  me  that  Mr.  Seward  had  been  sent  from  Washington  by  his  father  to 
warn  him  of  danger  in  passing  through  Baltimore,  and  to  urge  him  to  come  directly  to 
Washington.  I  do  not  think  that  Mr.  Seward  stated  to  me  the  facts  upon  which  his 
father's  convictions  were  founded;  but  the  knowledge  that  from  an  entirely  independent 
line  of  testimony  to  that  which  you  had  furnished  the  preceding  night,  had  led  Governor 
Seward  to  the  same  conclusion,  that  there  was  danger,  strengthened  my  own  con- 
victions of  the  propriety  of  the  course  marked  out.  I  told  Mr.  Seward  that  he  could 
say  to  his  father  that  all  had  been  arranged,  and  that  so  far  as  human  foresight  could 
predict,  Mr.  Lincoln  vrould  be  in  Washington  at  six  o'clock  the  next  morning;  that  he 
understood  the  absolute  necessity  of  secresy  in  the  matter.  I  do  not  think  that  I  gave 
him  any  of  the  details,  but  I  am  not  positive  on  that  point.  After  the  train  left  Phila- 
delphia for  Harrisburg,  and  as  soon  as  I  could  get  a  word  with  Mr.  Lincoln  alone,  I  told 
him  the  proposed  plan  of  operations ;  I  told  him  that  I  felt  exceedingly  the  responsibility, 
as  no  member  of  the  party  had  been  informed  of  anything  connected  with  the  matter, 
and  that  it  was  iliif  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  party  that  they  should  be  advised  with  and 
consulted  in  so  important  a  step.  It  is  proper  to  add,  that  Colonel  Lamon,  Mr.  Nicolay 
and  Colonel  Ellsworth  knew  that  something  was  on  foot,  but  very  judiciously  refrained 
from  asking  questions.  To  the  above  suggestions  Mr.  Lincoln  assented,  adding:  'I  reckon 
they  will  laugh  at  us  Jadd,  but  you  had  better  get  them  together.'  It  was  arranged  that 
after  the  reception  at  the  State  House,  and  before  dinner,  the  matter  should  be  fully  laid 
before  the  following  gentlemen  of  the  party:  Judge  David  Davis,  Colonel  Sumner, 
Major  David  Hunter,  Captain  John  Pope,  Ward  H.  Lamon  and  John  G.  Nicolay. 

"The  meeting  thus  arranged  took  place  in  the  parlor  of  the  hotel,  Mr.  Lincoln  being 
present.  The  facts  were  laid  before  them  by  me,  together  with  the  details  of  the  proposed 
plan  of  action.  There  was  a  diversity  of  opinion,  and  some  warm  discussion,  and  I  was 
subjected  to  a  very  rigid  cross-examination.  Judge  Davis,  who  had  expressed  no 
opinion,  but  contented  himself  with  asking  rather  pointed  questions,  turned  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  who  had  been  listening  to  the  whole  discussion,  and  said:  'Well,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
what  is  your  own  judgment  upon  this  matter?'  Mr.  Lincoln  replied:  'I  have  thought 
over  this  matter  considerably,  since  I  went  over  the  ground  with  Pinkerton  last  night. 
The  appearance  of  Mr.  Frederick  Seward,  with  warning  from  another  source,  confirms 
Mr.  Pinkerton's  belief.  Unless  there  are  some  other  reasons  beside  fear  of  ridicule,  I 
am  disposed  to  carry  out  Judd's  plan.'  Judge  Davis  then  said:  'That  settles  the  matter, 
gentlemen.'  Colonel  Sumner  said:  'So  be  it,  gentlemen  ;  it  is  against  my  judgment,  but 
I  have  undertaken  to  go  to  Washington  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  I  shall  do  it.'  I  tried  to 
convince  him  that  any  additional  person  added  to  the  risk;  but  the  spirit  of  the  gallant 
old  soldier  was  up,  and  debate  was  useless. 


568  BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

"The  party  separated  about  four  p.  m.,  the  others  to  go  to  the  dinner  table,  and 
myself  to  go  to  the  railroad  station  and  the  telegraph  office.  At  a  quarter  to  six  I  was 
back  at  the  hotel,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  still  at  the  table.  In  a  few  moments  the  carriage 
drove  up  to  the  side  door  of  the  hotel.  Either  Mr.  Nicolay  or  Mr.  Lamon  called  Mr. 
Lincoln  from  the  table.  He  went  to  his  room,  changed  his  dinner  dress  for  a  traveling 
Buit,  and  came  down  with  a  soft  hat  sticking  in  his  pocket  and  his  shawl  on  his  arm. 
As  the  party  passed  through  the  hall  I  said,  in  a  low  tone,  'Lamon,  go  ahead;  as  soon  as 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  in  the  carriage, drive  off.  The  crowd  must  not  be  allowed  to  identify  him.' 
Mr.  Lamon  went  first  to  the  carriage;  Colonel  Sumner  was  following  close  after  Mr. 
Lincoln,  I  put  my  hand  gently  on  his  shoulder,  he  turned  to  see  what  was  wanted,  and, 
before  I  could  explain,  the  carriage  was  off.  The  situation  was  a  little  awkward,  to  use 
no  stronger  terms,  for  a  few  moments,  until  I  said  to  the  Colonel:  'When  we  get  to 
Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln  shall  determine  what  apology  is  due  to  you.' 

"Mr.  Franciscus  and  Mr.  Lewis,  in  charge  of  that  special  train,  took  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  Mr.  Lamou  safely  to  West  Philadelphia,  and  at  that  station  you  met  them  with  a 
carriage  and  took  them  to  the  Baltimore  train,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  immediately  retired  to 
his  berth  in  the  sleeping-car.      No   one  but  the  persons  herein  named — not  even   his 

family knew  where  Mr.  Lincoln  was  until  the  next  morning's  telegraph  announced  that 

he  was  in  Washington.  To  get  away  from  questioning,  I  went  to  my  room  about  nine 
o'clock,  and  staid  there  until  about  one,  when  a  dispatch  reached  me  from  Philadelphia, 
saying  that  to  that  point  all  was  right. 

"Mr.  Kennedy  can  test  the  accuracy  of  these  facts,  as  to  whom  the  credit  is  due  for 
arranging  for  the  safety  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  by  reference  to  the  gentlemen  named  herein, 
and  I  have  purposely  given  them  in  detail,  so  that  any  doubting  person  can  verify  or 
contradict  them.  On  our  journey  to  Washington,  I  had  seen  how  utterly  helpless  the 
party  were,  even  amongst  friends,  and  with  a  loyal  police  force,  as  General  Hunter  had 
his  shoulder  broken  in  Buffalo,  in  the  crowd  and  jam.  The  same  spirit  that  slaughtered 
the  Massachusetts  soldiers  at  Baltimore — that  laid  low  by  the  hand  of  the  assassin  that 
great  and  good  man  at  the  commencement  of  his  second  term,  had  prepared  to  do  that 
deed  to  prevent  his  first  inauguration;  and  I  know  that  the  first  warning  of  danger  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  came  from  you;  and  that  his  passage  in  safety  through  Baltimore 
was  accomplished  in  the  manner  above  described, 

"Respectfully,  yours, 

"N.    B.    JUDD." 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  nominated  his  Cabinet,  and 
the  first  nomination,  after  its  coufirmati(m,  Avas  that  of  Hon.  Norman  B. 
Judd,  as  Minister  to  Berlin,  the  most  polished  court  of  Europe.  It  is 
equally  significant  that  Mr.  Johnson,  when  he  inaugurated  the  era  of  the 
political  guillotine,  and  seceded  from  the  party  that  elected  him  Vice- 
President,  commenced  his  removals  with  Mr.  Judd.  His  was  the  first 
appointment  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  first  removal  by  Mr.  Johnson,  and 
the  removal  was  ordered  by  Mr.  Johnson  before  his  predecessor  was 
buried. 

}>h\  Judd  came  home  from  Berlin,  where  he  had  represented  the 


NORMAN   B.  JTJDD.  669 

country  with  signal  ability,  in  October,  18(35.  He  left  Chicago  four  years 
and  a  half  before,  Avith  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  nine  thonsand, 
and  returned  to  find  the  same  increased  to  over  two  hundred  thousand, 
and  a  corresponding  growth  in  all  the  elements  that  make  a  great  metro- 
politan city.  Mr.  Johnson  had  manifested  his  opposition  to  Congress  in 
a  special  manner  by  his  removals  from  office,  and  the  people,  in  return, 
determined  to  send  Mr.  Judd  to  Congress.  Hon.  John  Wentworth  was 
his  opponent  before  the  Convention.  The  two  men  had  been  opponents, 
both  in  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties,  for  twenty  years,  and 
were  now,  for  the  first  time,  each  seeking  the  same  office.  Both  were  men 
of  great  executive  ability  and  party  influence.  Mr.  Judd  had  been  absent 
nearly  five  years,  returning  to  find  a  city  of  strangers.  Mr.  Wentworth 
had  been  on  the  ground  all  that  time,  in  active  party  exercise.  The  con- 
test, therefore,  was  as  unequal  as  it  was  bitter;  but  Mr.  Judd  triumphed 
over  his  antagonist,  the  strongest  that  could  have  been  put  in  the  field 
against  him,  and  carried  the  election  over  his  Democratic  competitor  at 
the  polls. 

We  have,  thus  far,  sketched  only  Mr.  Judd's  political  career,  because 
that  has  been  the  marked  feature  of  his  life.  Before  closing  this  sketch, 
we  propose  to  briefly  glance  at  his  career  as  a  lawyer  and  business 
man.  In  1847,  after  his  dissolution  with  Mr.  Scammon,  he  formed  a 
co-partnership  with  the  Hon.  John  M.  Wilson,  which  continued  until  the 
latter's  elevation  to  the  bench.  About  the  close  of  the  partnership,  the 
railroad  interests  of  the  State  were  lieginning  to  assume  importance,  and 
the  firm  of  Judd  &  Wilson  was  largely  employed  in  that  department  of 
practice.  From  that  time  until  he  left  for  Europe,  ]\Ir.  Judd's  attention 
was  exclusively  given  to  that  branch  of  the  law.  The  extent  of  his 
business  in  this  direction  is  best  shown  by  stating  his  connections.  He 
Avas  the  Attorney  of  the  Michigan  Southern  Railroad,  and  managed  its 
litigation  witli  the  Michigan  Central  at  Chicago.  He  was  Attorney  and 
a  Director  of  the  Chicago  and  Rock  Island  Road;  also  of  the  Mississippi 
and  ^Missouri  Road,  in  Iowa.  He  was  President  of  the  Peoria  and 
Bureau  Valley  Road,  Attorney  for  the  Pittsburgh  and  Fort  "Wayne  Road, 
a  Director  of  the  Chicago  and  Milwaukee  Road,  and  President  of  the 
Railroad  Bridge  Company,  at  Rock  Island.  The  existence  of  this  bridge 
has  been  the  cause  of  constant  litigation  in  all  the  various  forms  that 
legal  ingenuity  can  suggest.  The  first  litigation  was  a  bill  filed  by  the 
United  States  to  restrain  the  construction  of  the  bridge.     The  application 


670  BIOGRAPHICAL,  SKETCHES. 

for  the  injunction  was  heard  before  Judge  McLean,  and  the  control  and 
preparation  of  the  defense  was  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Judd.  Since  that 
date,  the  Bridge  Company  has  been  on  the  defensive  in  nearly  all  the 
courts,  both  State  and  national,  of  Illinois  and  Iowa.  The  defense,  in 
all  these  suits,  was  controlled  and  managed  by  Mr.  Judd,  up  to  the  time 
of  his  departure  for  Europe ;  and  the  bridge  still  stands,  in  spite  of  all 
the  legal  assaults  upon  it. 

Mr.  Judd's  election  to  Congress  closes  his  career  as  far  as  the  purposes 
of  this  volume  are  concerned ;  but  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  in  the  future, 
as  in  the  past,  he  will  continue  to  exercise  a  strong  controlling  political 
influence.  As  a  politician,  he  has  been  almost  invariably  successful, 
chiefly  owing  to  his  remarkable  executive  ability.  As  a  public  servant, 
from  his  first  office  of  Attorney  of  a  city  in  embryo,  to  that  of  repre- 
sentative of  the  Republic  at  the  first  court  of  Europe,  he  has  always  been 
faithful,  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  true  to  liberty,  and  with- 
out reproach.  As  a  citizen,  he  has  labored  arduously  for  the  interests 
of  the  city,  and  has  lived  to  see  the  fruits  of  his  labors. 

Mr.  Judd  was  married,  in  1844,  to  Miss  Adeline  Rossiter,  of  Chicago, 
a  lady  eminently  qualified,  both  in  intellectual  accomplishments  and 
domestic  virtues,  to  fill  her  station.  He  has  three  children  living — 
Frank  R.,  aged  twenty-two;  Edward  James,  aged  nine;  and  Minnie 
Mitchell,  aged  thirteen. 


JOHN  WENTWORTH. 


John  Wentworth  is  one  of  the  verv  few  men  now  living  who 
attended  the  meetings  called  in  the  -winter  of  1836-7,  to  consider  the 
expediency  of  api)lying  to  the  Legislature,  in  session  at  Vandal ia,  for  a 
city  charter. 

He  was  secretary  of  the  first  political  meeting  ever  called  in  the  First 
Ward  to  make  nominations  preliminary  to  the  first  municipal  election, 
and  at  whidi  meeting  Hon.  Francis  C.  Sherman  was  one  of  the  nominees 
for  Alderman.  In  August,  1837,  he  was  secretary  of  a  convention  held 
at  Brush  Hill  (now  of  Du  Page  County),  to  nominate  officers  for  the  then 
county  of  Cook,  and  at  which  Walter  Kimball,  the  present  City  Comp- 
troller, was  nominated  for  Judge  of  Probate.  In  1838,  he  was  appointed 
School  Inspector;  and  he  held  the  same  office,  under  the  new  name  of 
Member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  wiien  he  was  last  elected  to  Congress. 
He  has  met  among  the  scholars,  whilst  making  his  official  visits,  the 
grandchildren  of  those  he  met  as  scholars  in  his  first  year  of  .service.  He 
Avas  the  first  corporation  printer  of  Chicago,  elected  in  1837,  and  he  held 
the  position  for  about  three-fourths  of  the  period  of  the  twenty-five  years 
that  he  was  sole  editor,  publisher  and  proprietor  of  the  "Chicago 
Democrat."  He  commenced  making  public  speeches  at  our  first  nniiii- 
cipal  election,  when  Hon.  W.  B.  Ogden  was  elected  Maym-. 

He  was  in  the  then  town  of  Chicago  at  the  Presidential  election  of 
1836,  but  was  not  a  voter,  as  he  had  arrived  only  the  25th  of  October, 
of  that  year. 

He  was  born  in  Sandwich,  Strafford  County,  New  Hampshire,  March 
5,  1815.  Taking  his  first  lessons  in  life  amid  tlie  hardy  son-^  of  the 
Switzerland   of  America,  he  was  sent,  in    the  winter  of  1826-7,  to  the 


672  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

academy  at  Gilmanton,  New  Hampshire;  thence  to  Wolf  borough,  New- 
Hampshire;  to  New  Hampton,  New  Hampshire;  and  to  South  Berwick. 
Maine.  In  1832,  he  entered  Dartmouth  College,  and  graduated  there 
in  1836.  That  institution  has  since  conferred  the  degree  of  LL.  I>. 
upon  him.  Senator  Grimes,  of  Iowa,  was  a  member  of  the  same  class 
with  him,  and  James  F.  Joy,  of  Detroit,  was  one  of  their  teachers.  The 
winter  previous  to  his  entering  college,  he  taught  school  at  New  Hampton, 
New  Hampshire,  and  three  of  the  winters  he  was  in  college,  he  taught  at 
Hanover,  Grafton,  and  East  Lebanon.  Whilst  at  the  latter  place,  he  was 
elected  a  delegate  to  the  County  Convention,  and  was  made  chairman 
of  the  committee  upon  resolutions,  and  his  report,  and  remarks  accom- 
panying it,  were  highly  commended  in  the  papers  of  the  day^  as 
displaying  the  true  "Jackson  grit."  He  became  of  age  whilst  in  college, 
and  gave  his  first  vote  for  Isaac  Hill,  the  Jackson  candidate  for  Governor. 
He  had  been  a  writer  for  Jackson  newspapers  before  entering  college; 
and  whilst  there,  his  contributions  to  tlieui  were  frequent.  At  his  College 
Commencement,  Governor  Hill,  Franklin  Pierce,  John  P.  Hale,  and 
Edmund  Burke  were  upon  the  stage,  and  publicly  congratulated  him 
upon  his  performance,  the  three  latter  little  dreaming  what  relations  to 
each  other  they  were  so  soon  to  occupy.  In  seven  years,  he  was  the 
colleague  of  Messrs.  Hale  and  Burke  in  Congress,  and  he  was  again  in 
Congress  when  Mr.  Pierce  was  President. 

Mr.  Burke,  as  editor  of  the  "Newport  (N.  H.)  Spectator,"  speaking 
of  the  exercises  at  this  commencement  of  Dartmouth  College,  said: 
"  Some  of  them  gave  evidence  of  a  high  order  of  talent,  among  whom  we 
would  mention  that  of  John  Wentworth,  of  Sandwich."  The  "  Vermont 
Chronicle"  of  August  31,  1836,  the  organ  of  the  Congregational 
denomination  of  that  State,  congratulated  young  Wentworth  "  On  the 
possession  of  a  voice  of  uncommon  strength,  compass  and  melody,"  and 
said:  "We  hope  that  voice  will  do  good  in  the  world,  and  not  evil;  for 
either  of  which  purposes  it  may  be  signally  adapted."  As  his  pen  has 
written  more  than  that  of  any  other  one  man  in  Chicago,  so  his  voice 
has  spoken  more;  and  there  are  two  prominent  subjects  upon  which  it 
has  given  no  uncertain  sound,  viz.:  Liberty  and  Economy. 

On  Monday,  October  3,  of  the  same  year,  he  left  his  father's  house, 
with  one  hundred  dollars  in  his  pocket,  "  bound  West.'  So  undetermined 
was  he  as  to  his  place  of  destination,  that  he  did  not  know  where  to 
advise  his  friends  to  direct  their  letters.     The  Governor  of  his  State  gave 


JOHN  T7ENTW0RTH.  673 

him  a  letter  to  some  one  man  in  each  of  the  new  States  and  Territurie.s, 
but  which  he  never  had  occasiou  to  use.  Two  of  these  letters  we  copy, 
the  iirst  addressed  to  Governor  Henry  Dodge,  of  Wisconsin,  and  tlie 
second  to  Hon.  R.  J.  Walker,  United  States  Senator  ironi  Mississippi: 

"OoNCORi),  N.  IL,  September  29,  183C. 
"Sir:  Permit  lus  to  introduce  to  your  friendly  iittentious,  Mr.  John  Wentworth,  a 
graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  of  the  present  year.  Mr.  Wentworth  possesses  merit  ai 
a  scholar  and  a  gentleman,  and  has  already  discovered  talents  as  a  politician  which  give 
him  the  first  rank  among  our  young  men.  lie  goes  to  the  West  in  pursuit  of  fortune  and 
fame.  Should  he  take  a  stand  in  your  Territory,  I  cannot  doubt  that  he  will  receive,  as 
he  will  merit,  the  patronage  and  friendship  of  the  pioneers  of  your  flourishing  country. 
"I  am,  with  high  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Isaac  IIiu.." 

"Concord,  N.  II.,  September  29,  183G. 
"Dear  Sir:     This  will  introduce  Mr.  John   Wentworth,   of  this  State,   of  whose 
talents  and  worth  I  had  occasion  to  speak  to  yourself  during  the  last  session  of  Congress. 
I  cannot  doubt  he  will  be  encouraged  on  his  way  by  all  such  aids  as  you  may  conveniently 
give  him.     Believe  me, 

"Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

"Isaac  Hill.' 

His  route  was  by  stage  over  tlie  Green  Mountains  to  Schenectady; 
thence  by  the  only  railroad  between  Chicago  and  the  East,  as  iar  as  Utioa; 
thence  by  canal  to  Buffalo;  and  by  steamer  to  Detroit,  where  he  arrived 
Thursday  evening,  the  13th.  He  advertised  him.self  as  a  school  teacher, 
the  day  after  his  arrival,  in  the  "Detroit  Free  Press,"  and  walked  into 
the  country  as  far  as  Ann  Arbor,  going  and  returning  by  different  routes. 
Meeting  with  no  succe.s.s,  he  shipped  his  triuik  for  Chicago,  by  Oliver 
Newberry's  new  brig  (Manhattan),  and,  his  feet  being  sore  from  previous 
traveling,  he  took  the  stage  across  the  country  to  j\Iiehigan  City,  where 
he  arrived  October  22.  Thence  he  traveled  on  foot  to  Chicago,  around 
the  beach  of  the  Lake,  there  being,  at  that  time,  no  other  road,  where  he 
arrived  Tuesday,  a.  m.,  the  25th,  and  took  his  dinner  at  the  United  States 
Hotel,  kept  by  Joiui  Murphy  (afterwards  Alderman  of  the  city),  at  tho 
corner  of  Lake  and  Market  streets,  on  the  site  of  the  Wigwam,  where 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  iirst  nominated  for  President. 

About  this  time,  a  New  Hampshire  actpjaintaiu'e  purcha.scd  tlie 
"Chicago  Democrat,"  and  made  arrangements  with  Mr.  Wentworth  to 
conduct  it  while  he  returned  Etist.     The  "Democrat"  was  established  in 


674  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

1834,  having  been  the  first  paper  in  the  city,  and  there  was  but  one  other. 
Tlie  late  Daniel  Brainard,  M.  D.,  was  his  immediate  predecessor  in  the 
editorial  chair.  As  the  paper  was  only  published  weekly,  he  devoted  his 
leisure  time  to  the  study  of  law,  at  the  office  of  Henry  Moore,  then  a 
lawyer  of  great  promise,  but  whom  consumption  carried  to  a  premature 
grave,  in  his  native  Massachusetts.  On  the  23d  of  November,  the  first 
number,  under  his  management,  appeared.  Although  he  labored  under 
the  disadvantages  of  youth  and  inexjierience,  having  been  less  than  four 
months  out  of  college,  and  less  than  thirty  days  in  the  State,  he  soon 
created  a  desire  among  the  leading  politicians  of  the  Jackson  school  in 
the  Northwest,  that  he  should  become  sole  proprietor  of  the  establishment. 
And  an  opportunity  was  soon  offered  him,  for  misfortune  attended  the 
new  proprietor  at  the  East,  and  he  was  unable  to  meet  his  Western 
engagements.  The  liabilities  for  the  Democrat  were  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  dollars,  and  it  was  the  wish  of  all  the  creditors  that  Mr. 
Wentworth  should  contrive  in  some  way  to  liquidate  them.  But  his 
total  means  when  he  arrived  at  Chicago  were  but  thirty  dollars,  and  he 
had  received  nothing  since.  He  was  unacquainted  with  business,  and  was 
not  a  printer.  It  was  proposed  by  some  of  the  creditors  that  he  write  to 
his  father,  who  was  a  gentleman  of  respectable  means  for  his  locality,  for 
assistance.  But  his  reply  was:  "I  am  the  oldest  of  a  large  family  of 
children,  and  when  my  father  has  educated  the  others  as  well  as  he  has 
me,  it  will  be  time  for  me  to  ask  for  further  favors." 

They  then  assured  him  that  it  was  the  wish  of  all  that  he  take  the 
paper,  but  they  wanted  him  to  tell  how  he  was  to  pay  for  it.  His  answer 
was  characteristic  of  the  future  man.  Although  now  surprising  no  one 
Avho  knows  Mr.  Wentworth's  peculiarities,  yet  it  then  created  a  great  deal 
of  surprise.  He  said,  "I  propose  to  pay  for  it  out  of  my  earnings  and 
savings.  Come  in  every  Saturday  night  and  get  what  I  have  left  after 
paying  the  week's  expenses.  Determine  among  yourselves  what  debts 
shall  be  paid  first,  and  I  propose  to  own  the  fixtures,  types  and  presses,  as 
fast  as  I  pay  for  them  and  no  fiister.  But  I  propose  to  OAvn  the  columns 
from  the  start.  Although  young,  I  have  very  settled  convictions,  origi- 
nating in  inheritance,  perhaps,  Imt  certainly  confirmed  l)y  education,  and  I 
propose  to  make  the  'Democrat'  their  organ." 

The  result  of  this  negotiation  Avas,  that  in  July  of  1837,  the  words, 
"Agent  for  the  Proprietor,"  Avhich  had  thus  long  been  beneath  his  name, 
were  dropped,  and  he  continued  sole  editor,  publisher  and  proprietor,  until 


JOHN   WENTWORTH.  675 

1861,  when  his  responsibilities  growing  \vith  the  rapid  growth  of  our  city 
and  others  outside,  ineident,  not  only  to  his  public  life,  but  to  the  means 
which  he  had  accumulated,  required  him  to  give  it  U[).  He  had  become 
largely  interested  iu  agriculture,  having  a  farm  of  2,500  acres,  and  he 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  newspaper  unless  he  could  have  all  to  do 
with  it.  It  must  reflect  his  sentiments  in  every  column.  If  public 
sentiment  was  wrong,  instead  of  catering  to  it,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to 
correct  it,  and  the  earlier  that  correction  was  undertaken,  the  better.  The 
war  had  begun,  and  new  questions  were  suddenly  springing  out  of  it, 
which  had  to  be  promptly  met,  and  he  was  unwilling  to  trust  them  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  might  happen  to  be  in  liis  employ,  when  im})ortant 
midnight  despatches  might  arrive,  and,  in  particular,  as  he  knew  that 
whatever  was  written  would  be  attributed  solely  to  him.  And  it  is  a 
wonder  how  an  independent  editor  like  Mr.  Wentwortli  could  ever  have 
secured  so  many  public  positions  as  he  has.  For  it  is  the  fortune  of 
independent  editors  to  be  treading  upon  the  toes  of  influence.  Mr.  Went- 
wortli, whilst  an  editor,  was  ten  years  elected  to  Congress,  and  two  years 
elected  Mayor,  with  his  paper  in  full  blast  upon  every  question  that 
agitated  the  public.  Call  over  the  roll  of  fearless  political  writers,  and 
see  who  have  been  more  successful. 

Having  made  up  his  mind  to  pay  oif  the  indebtedness  of  the  "  Chicago 
Democrat,"  and  to  own  it,  he  brought  to  bear  all  those  indomitable 
energies  which  have  ever  characterized  the  descendants  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  New  England ;  and  although  this  had  to  be  done  in  the  midst 
of  one  of  the  severest  financial  crises  through  which  the  country  ever 
passed,  and  although  hLs  views  upon  all  the  questions  growing  out  of  such 
a  crisis  were  considered  radical  and  extreme,  his  paper  never  lost  that  bold 
and  defiant  tone  with  which  a  conviction  of  right  ever  inspires  a  man.  It 
ought  before  to  have  been  stated,  that  he  is  a  descendant  on  both  sides 
from  the  old  Puritan  and  revolutionary  stock  of  New  England,  men  who 
left  their  native  land,  over  two  and  a  quarter  centuries  ago,  to  enjoy  free- 
dom of  opinion,  and  whose  descendants  have  all  been  members  of  the  same 
church  which  they  came  to  New  England  to  establish. 

His  maternal  grand liither,  Colonel  Amos  Cogswell,  had  served  through 
tlie  entire  war  of  the  llevolution.  His  paternal  great-grandfather,  Judge 
John  AVentwortii,  had  presided  at  the  first  revolutionary  convention  in 
New  Hampshire.  His  grandfather,  John  Wentwortli,  Jr.,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three,  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.     And  the  pastor 


676  BIOGEAPHICAX,   SKETCHES. 

of  the  church  of  which  his  parents  were  members,  and  by  whom  he  was 
christened,  had  been  a  soklier  of  the  Revolution  and  had  prayed  in  the 
camp  of  Washington.  He  brought  his  New  Eugkmd  habits  and  inspira- 
tions to  bear  upon  tlie  Avork  he  had  undertaken.  He  made  his  bed  among 
the  types  and  presses,  and  became  not  only  editor,  but  folder,  pressman, 
clerk  and  mail  boy.  There  was  no  industry  that  could  have  surpassed 
his.  By  continuous  daily  and  nightly  toil,  by  denying  himself  everything 
that  the  most  pressing  necessity  did  not  demand,  he  had  paid  the  last 
dollar  by  the  summer  of  1839,  and  was  then  enabled  to  visit  his  native 
New  England,  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  leading  administration  paper  in 
the  Northwest.  During  that  visit,  he  delivered  his  first  literary  address 
at  the  commencement  of  Norwich  (Vt.)  University,  taking  for  his  subject, 
''  All  education  should  be  practical,"  which  was  highly  commended  by  the 
papers  of  the  day  as  a  literary  production ;  and  he  was  the  guest  at  the 
time  of  General  Truman  B.  Eausom,  one  of  the  Professors,  Avho  fell  on  the 
battle  fields  of  Mexico,  and  who  was  the  father  of  our  own  General 
Ransom  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  foresight  of  Mr.  Wentworth,  in  early  securing  the  entire  control 
of  the  columns  of  the  "  Democrat,"  Avas  apparent  when  the  financial  crisis 
of  1837  overtook  the  country,  and  which  was  attributed  by  many  to  the 
Jackson- Van  Buren  policy,  but  which  he  attributed  to  a  redundant  paper 
circulation  and  its  natural  consequences,  speculation  and  extravagance; 
claiming,  as  he  has  so  often  done  since,  amid  similar  crises,  that  the  specie 
redemption  point  should  be  the  measure  of  paper  circulation,  and  that  all 
excesses  of  paper  issues  must  result  in  a  disastrous  inflation  of  prices.  An 
extra  session  of  Congress  was  called,  and  the  entire  Democratic  delegation 
from  Illinois  in  the  House  Avent  over  to  the  opposition,  for  Avhich  the 
"Democrat"  A^ehemently  denounced  them,  and  took  the  most  decided 
administration  ground.  Its  articles  Avere  copied  into  the  "  Washington 
Globe,"  the  "  New  York  Evening  Post,"  and  all  the  leading  administration 
papers.  The  business  men  of  Chicago,  and  the  speculators  univ^ersally, 
Avere  against  President  Van  Buren,  and  so,  of  course,  were  against  the 
"Democrat,"  and  so  became  many  of  its  old  creditors,  aa'Iio  refused  to  have 
it  left  at  their  doors.  It  was  then,  as  it  many  times  afterAvards  Avas,  upon 
the  agitation  of  similar  questions,  denounced  in  public  meetings  for 
creating  an  erroneous  public  sentiment,  and  threats  AA'ere  made  of  throAving 
it  in  the  river.'  But  it  kept  up  an  unremitting  fire,  and  defied  all  denr.n- 
eiatiou.    The  excitement  Avas  increased  by  the  early  call  of  a  Congressional 


•liniN    AVENTWORTH.  677 

Convention  at  Peoria,  the  (Icimiiciatidn  of  tlic  iiu'inlxr  of  Congress,  and 
the  nomination  of8tq)lu'n  A.  Douglas  in  his  pUiee.  Mr.  WVntworth  \\:us 
pressed  as  a  eandidate  by  many  (k'K',«;ati's  who  were  aei^uainted  with  him 
through  his  paper,  but  did  not  know  that  lie  was  under  the  required  age. 
One  of  them  would  insist  upon  voting  for  him,  and  made  the  prediction 
in  the  Convention  that  he  would  some  day  be  in  C'ongnss, 

The  friends  of  the  incumbent  made  a  personal  matti-r  of  tlu'  jtroccrd- 
ings  of  the  Convention,  and  his  son-in-law  publicly  shot  <lown  one  of  the 
Committee  upon  Resolutions.  Douglas  and  his  opponent  canvassed  the 
District  together  on  horseback,  and  their  discussions,  confmcd  entirely  to 
financial  questions,  were  attended  with  great  bitterness  on  the  part  of  the 
audience,  which  occasionally  broke  out  into  personal  collisions.  Douglas 
made  his  headquarters,  in  Chicago,  at  the  "Democrat"  office,  during 
this  canvass,  and  it  was  the  necessity  of  defending  the  administration 
that  induced  Mr.  Wentworth  to  laboriously  study  the  principles  of 
governmental  finance,  and  wliicli  qualified  him  to  write  and  speak  so 
determinedly  upon  them  in  after  years. 

As  early  as  February,  1840,  in  answer  to  an  invitation  to  address  the 
Bay  State  Association,  at  Boston,  he  wrote  a  letter  upon  the  relation  of 
banks  to  the  Government,  which  was  extensively  circulated  in  pamphlet 
form,  and  copied  into  the  administration  papers.  The  "Boston  Post" 
of  that  day  said:  "An  ample  apology  for  its  great  length  will  be  found 
in  the  sound  doctrines  it  contains,  and  the  powerful  and  eloquent  style  in 
which  thev  are  communicated.  Mr.  Wentworth's  views  of  the  banking 
system,  statesmanlike  and  e(|uitable  as  they  are,  cannot  fail  to  meet  with 
approbation  from  all  Democrats,  and  from  none  more  lully  than  the 
generous  sons  of  the  West." 

It  was  not  mitil  1840  that  Mr.  Wentworth  commenced  addressing: 
])nblic  assenddies  outside  of  the  city.  The  Presidential  election  was  to 
take  place  that  year;  and,  looking  upon  the  prospects  of  Mr.  Van  Bureu 
as  unfavoraide,  he  started  the  first  Democratic  daily  paper  in  the  North- 
west, and  having  got  it  well  under  way,  he  commenced  addressing  the 
[)eople  in  Xorthern  Illinois,  and  so  continued  until  the  end  of  the 
campaign,  often  riding  in  the  same  conveyance,  and  speaking  from  the 
same  stand,  with  Douglas.  But  the  adnunistration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  overthrown,  ami  with  it  all  those  measures  of  linance  to  whi<'h  Mr. 
Wentworth  had  l)ecome  so  early  a  devotee.  Rut  when  the  term  of  the 
new  administration   had    half  expired,   Douglas  and  Wentworth  entered 


678  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Congress  together,  and  assisted  in  restoring  them  to  the  national  code. 
At  the  close  of  the  contest,  he  received  a  very  complimentary  letter  from 
Governor  Thomas  Carlin  for  his  services,  enclosing  a  commission  as  his 
Aid-de-Camp,  signed  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  as  Secretary  of  State. 
Hence  is  derived  his  title  of  Colonel. 

He  continued  his  legal  studies  as  political  excitement  subsided,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1841  entered  the  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 
with  the  intention  of  remaining  a  year,  and  had  secured  the  services  of 
the  late  Judge  George  Manierre,  as  editor  in  his  absence.  But,  in  the 
autumn  his  friends  became  uneasy  lest  his  absence  should  provoke 
competition  for  the  nomination  to  Congress,  and  prevailed  upon  him 
reluctantly  to  return  home.  Calling  to  take  leave  of  Judge  Story,  one 
of  the  Professors,  he  was  asked  why  he  left  before  the  close  of  the  term. 
"  Private  business,"  was  the  reply.  Scarce  had  two  years  elapsed,  before 
he  met  Judge  Story,  as  Congressman,  who  observed:  "Your  private 
business  has  assumed  public  importance.  Two  years  ago,  my  student; 
now,  my  law-maker.     Truly,  a  young  man  of  rapid  growth." 

Soon  after  his  return,  he  was  examined  by  the  late  Governor  Thomas 
Ford,  wliilst  holding  court  at  Sycamore,  DeKalb  County,  and  the  late 
Thomas  C.  Brown,  who  was  holding  court  at  the  same  time  in  Dixon,  in 
the  adjoining  county  of  Lee,  and  admitted  to  the  bar.  But  his  early 
election  to  Congress,  and  long  continuance  therein,  with  his  other  public 
positions,  have  left  him  with  only  the  name  of  lawyer. 

In  August,  18-13  (the  election  being  a  year  later  than  usual  in  conse- 
quence of  a  delay  in  the  apportionment),  before  he  had  been  in  the  State 
seven  years,  he  was  elected  to  the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  the  youngest 
member  of  that  body.  Before  that  time,  there  had  been  no  Member  of 
Congress  from  Illinois  north  of  S})ringfield,  and  none  from  any  State, 
who  resided  upon  Lake  Michigan.  He  was  in  Congress  eight  years 
under  the  census  of  1840,  two  under  that  of  1850,  and  two  under  that 
of  1860.  He  was  in  the  Twenty-eighth,  Twenty-ninth,  Thirtieth,  Thirty- 
first,  Thirty-third  and  Thirty-ninth  Congresses,  comprising  a  period  of 
Tyler's,  Fillmore's  and  Johnson's  administrations,  being  that  of  all  the 
Vice-Presidents  who  ever  acted  as  Presidents.  He  was  under  the 
Speakerships  of  Jones,  of  Virginia,  Davis,  of  Indiana,  Winthrop,  of 
Massachusetts,  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Boyd,  of  Kentucky,  and  Colflix, 
of  Indiana;  and  under  the  administrations  of  Tyler,  Polk,  Taylor, 
Fillmore,  Pierce  and  Johnson.     His   first  District  was  composed  of  the 


JOHN   AVENTWORTH.  679 

counties  of  Cook,  Boone,  JJuivaii,  Cli;uiip:ii<i;ii,  iKKalh,  I)ul*a};c,  (JiiukIv, 
Troqiiois,  Kaue,  Kendall,  Lake,  LaSallo,  Livin<!;st(«n,  .Melleiiry,  McLean, 
Vermillion  and  Will;  and  iVoin  these  new  counties  and  parts  of  counties 
have  since  been  created.  This  ti-rritory  is  now  represented,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  by  seven  different  Members  of  Congress.  \\'hen  first  elected,  the 
canal  was  not  completed,  and  tlu're  was  not  a  railroad  in  the  State.  The 
northern  part  of  the  State  did  not  contain  the  population  that  Chicago 
now  do'es.  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  were  not  admitted  into  the  Union, 
and  Minnesota  was  only  known  as  a  part  of  Wisconsin  Territory.  But 
little  more  than  half  the  pul)Iie  land  in  the  State  iiad  been  sold.  He 
could  only  cauviiss  his  District  in  a  buggy,  and  oftentimes  his  appoint- 
ments could  not  be  fulfilled  from  the  rise  of  streams  by  sudden  rains. 
This  District  extended  from  the  AVisconsin  SUite  line  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  south,  and  from  the  Indiana  State  line  about  one  hundred 
miles  west;  and  there  were  distances  which  would  require  from  eight  to 
ten  hours'  travel  without  meeting  a  single  inhabitant. 

The  history  of  his  public  acts  would  require  a  review  of  the  history 
of  the  times.  The  journals  of  the  House  will  speak  for  his  votes,  and 
the  "Congressional  Globe"  for  his  speeches.  He  entered  public  life  with 
his  present  motto— ''Liberty  and  Economy."  He  constituted  one  of  the 
small  majority  that  rescinded,  during  his  first  term,  on  the  motion  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  the  rule  that  prohibited  the  reception  of  all  petitions 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  He  was  present  in  the  House  when  John 
Quincy  Adams  fell,  and  was  one  of  the  committee  to  escort  his  remains 
to  Massachusetts.  In  all  measures  of  finance,  he  took  an  equally  early 
stand  with  the  most  radical  of  the  anti-debt  and  anti-repudiation,  as  well 
as  of  the  specie-jm'ing  and  low-taxation  jxirty. 

The  local  legislation  required  for  his  District,  and  the  business  of  his 
constituents  with  the  various  Departments  at  that  day,  can  hardly  be 
appreciated  at  present.  There  was  no  telegraph,  and  but  very  little 
railroad  communication  between  Chicago  and  AVashington,  and  the  water 
communication  was  very  circuitous.  The  postage  on  an  ordinary  letter 
was  then  twenty-five  cents.  He  had  to  get  maritime  jurisdiction  extended 
over  the  Lakes,  harbors  constructed,  light-houses  erected,  jwrts  of  entry 
established.  United  States  District  Courts  and  court-houses,  marine 
hospitals,  post  office  buildings,  eti;.,  etc.  New  mtiil  routes  and  post 
offices  were  wanted;  and  all  over  Northern  Illinois  towns  and  villages 
have  assumed   names  that  Mr.  Wentworth  gave  to  their  (Original   prairie 


680  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

post  office.     Contested  land  cases,  arising  under  the  various  pre-emption 
laws  were  numerous,  and  required  time  at  the  Departments,  as  well  as  .in 

Congress. 

The  Mexican  war  was  begun  and  ended  whilst  he  was  in  Congress, 
and  this  brought  the  claims  of  soldiers  and  their  heirs  for  back  pay, 
pensions,  bounty,  etc.,  etc.;  and  Mr.  Wentworth  ever  took  pride  in  being 
the  gratuitous  agent  for  all  of  his  constituents. 

He  never  relaxed  his  effi)rts,  until  they  were  crowned  with  success,  to 
repeal  the  non-resident  speculators'  law,  exempting  lands  from  taxation 
until  five  years  after  they  were  sold,  and  to  enact  pre-emption,  graduation 
and  homestead  laws.  He  was  the  first  man  from  the  West  to  introduce  a 
bill  in  favor  of  the  bonded  Avarehouse  system. 

The  premature  adoption  of  an  extensive  railroad  system  had  brought 
upon  the  State  financial  embarrassments,  from  which  it  seemed  impossible 
to  extricate  it,  unless  Congress  should  make  a  railroad  grant  of  land 
similar  to  that  made  for  the  canal.  Tlie  Illinois  delegation  labored 
industriously  for  this,  but  they  found  almost  insurmountable  obstacles  in 
the  way.  One  party,  to  keep  the  tariff  low,  wanted  to  apply  all  tlio 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands  to  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  General 
Government.  The  other,  to  keep  it  high,  Avantcd  to  divide  the  proceeds 
of  their  sales  among  the  States.  Three  Congresses  had  pas?^ed  away  in 
ineffectual  attempts.  The  Senate  had  been  favorable;  but  the  House, 
where  the  older  States  where  in  greater  preponderance,  was  immovable. 
Whilst  the  finally  successful  negotiations  were  pending  to  get  the  Illinois 
bondholders  to  complete  the  canal,  ^Ir.  AVcntworth  had  formed  the 
acquaintance  of  many  very  influential  bondliolders  in  New  York  and 
Boston ;  and,  from  the  complexion  of  the  House,  he  believed  these  men 
had  influence  enough  to  gain  the  necessary  votes  to  pass  the  bill.  The 
canal  had  been  a  success,  and  the  registered  canal  bonds  were  far  above 
the  others  in  the  market.  ]Mr.  Wentworth  opened  a  correspondence  with 
them  to  show  that  a  railroad  grant  could  be  so  managed  as  to  complete 
the  road  and  bring  the  bonds  to  a  par  with  tlic  canal  bonds.  They  sent  a 
delegation  to  Washington,  who  soon  made  the  report  that  the  tariff 
question  was  in  the  way.  "  And  what  I  sent  for  you  for  was  because,  as 
tariff  men,  I  supposed  you  could  get  it  out  of  the  way,"  said  Mr.  Went- 
worth. A  few  days  more,  and  they  brought  to  him  a  notification  that  a 
distino'uished  Member  of  Conoress  from  Massachusetts  had  been  chosen 
mediator,  and  would  insist  upon  a  slight  modification  of  tlie  tariff  bill,  as 


JOHN   WENTWORTH.  681 

a  condition  of  passing  all  the  \\'cst('ni  kuul  hills.  Mr.  Wentwortli  called 
a  meeting  at  his  room,  and  made  known  tlu'  i)roposition.  Ho  took  the 
ground  that  the  modification  of  the  tarilf  might  work  well,  and,  if  so, 
there  would  bo  no  censure  attached  to  its  passage;  and,  if  not  so,  then  it 
could  be  repealed ;  whereas  the  land  grants  coidd  not  be  repealed. 

It  was  arranged  to  i'lirnish  votes  enough  to  pass  the  bill,  which  was 
called  up  early  next  morning,  and  defeated  by  the  absence  of  a  few  of  the 
strongest  tarilf  men  in  the  House.  So,  to  all  appearances,  ended  the 
Illinois  land  orant,  and  Mr.  Wentworth  felt  the  discomfiture  keenlv.  It 
was  his  fourth  Congress  of  labor  for  it,  and  he  luul  declined  a  re-election. 
He  felt  that  the  tarifl'bill  was  lost  through  no  fault  of  his,  or  his  Western 
allies.  They  had  all  worked  up  to  their  agreement,  and  he  resolved 
on  an  appeal  to  the  magnanimity  of  the  tarifi'  men.  He  suggested 
that  they  pass  the  Illinois  bill,  and  thereby  show  what  they  could  do,  and 
then  keep  back  the  other  bills  until  the  tariff  bill  should  pass.  This 
policy  was  approved,  and  the  gentleman  from  ^Massachusetts,  Hon.  George 
Ashmun,  engineered  the  bill  safely  through  the  House.  But  the  tariff  bill 
could  not  be  passed,  and  its  friends  would  allow  no  other  land  grant  to 
pass,  and  this  fact  made  the  Illinois  grant  still  more  valuable,  as  the 
company  that  secured  it  had  no  competition  at  its  organization  in 
disposing  of  that  class  of  securities.  The  men  who  were  thus  instrumental 
in  securing  the  passage  of  the  bill  Avere  not  long  in  submitting  to  Mr. 
"Wentworth  the  original  draft  of  the  present  charter,  which  still  exists, 
interlined  in  Mr.  AVentworth's  own  handwriting,  making  the  Governor 
an  ex-officio  director,  and  strengthening  the  clause  making  the  State's 
income  therefrom  applicable  to  the  liquidation  of  Illinois  indebtedness. 
President  Polk  pocketed  the  harbor  and  river  bill  that  passed  the  Twenty- 
ninth  Congress ;  and  Mr.  Wentworth,  thinking  that  he  saw  a  disposition  to 
make  opposition  to  such  bills  a  party  test,  deemed  some  immediate  popular 
action  necessary,  and  consulted  Members  of  Congress  upon  the  subject, 
and  the  result  was  the  calling  of  a  convention  at  Chicago,  July  5,  1847. 
;Mr.  Wentworth,  as  Chairman  of  the  Citizens'  Committee,  drafted  the 
address.  The  most  prominent  of  the  party  Avith  which  ]Mr.  Wentworth 
acted  gave  the  convention  the  cold  shoulder,  as  tending  to  injure  the 
administration.  But  this  only  inspirited  him,  and  nothing  that  he  eould 
do  through  his  newspaper,  or  by  public  speeches  or  private  letters,  was 
left  undone.     The  magical  effects  of  that  convention  are  proverbial. 

He  resisted  with  all   his  enertries  the  surrender  of"  the  United  Stiites 


632  BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

claim  to  any  portion  of  the  Pacific  Territory  south  of  the  Russian  Posses- 
sions, and  ^^-as  one  of  twelve  who  voted  that  our  right  to  the  whole 
country  should  not  be  the  subject  of  negotiation  or  compromise.  He  was 
one  of  the  few  Democrats  who  attended  a  private  meeting  under  Mr. 
Polk's  administration,  and  resolved  to  defeat  any  measure  looking  to  the 
acquisition  of  new  territory  unless  slavery  was  prohibited  therein,  and  the 
fruits  of  which  meeting  was  the  celebrated  "  AVilmot  Proviso." 

Wheeler,  who  was  at  Washington  during  all  these  eight  years,  in  his 
Biographical  and  Political  History  of  Congress,  Volume  II,  says : 

"We  mark  liim  down  a  man  of  untiring  energy,  whose  mind,  once  fixed  upon  a 
project,  is  not  apt  to  be  diverted  from  it,  but  will  make  every  consideration  secondary  to 
its  accomplishment.  Possessing  a  good  knowledge  of  parliamentary  tactics,  and  conver- 
sant generally  with  the  means  of  success  in  any  movement  he  may  make,  he  calculates 
coolly  and  afar  oif,  and  turns  every  little  circumstance  to  good  account.  We  have  seen 
him  stand  up  in  the  face  of  denunciation  and  excommunication  fierce  enough  to  awe  into 
submission  any  mind  accustomed  to  acknowledge  the  obligations  of  that  austere  disci- 
pline which  is  characteristic  of  the  Democratic  party.  If  he  has  winced,  we  never  saw 
him." 

And  the  "United  States  Democratic  Review,"  published  about  the 
same  time,  said  of  him : 

"  Colonel  Wentworth's  political  career  has  been  marked  by  untiring  industry  and 
perseverance;  by  independence  of  thought,  expression  and  action;  by  a  thorough  know- 
ledge of  human  nature;  by  a  moral  courage  equal  to  any  crisis;  by  a  self-possession  that 
enables  him  to  avail  himself  of  any  chance  of  success,  when  on  the  very  threshold  of 
defeat;  and  by  a  steady  devotion  to  what  he  believes  the  wishes  and  interests  of  those 
whose  representative  he  is." 

Under  the  census  of  1850,  Chicago  was  placed  in  a  District  composed 
of  the  counties  of  Cook,  DeKalb,  DuPage,  Kane,  Lee,  Whiteside  and  Rock 
Island,  the  three  latter  counties  not  having  been  in  the  District  formerly 
represented  by  Mr.  Went  worth  in  Congress.  He  was  its  first  Repre- 
sentative. He  and  Senator  Douglas  canvassed  the  entire  District  in 
company,  lioth  urging  the  claims  of  General  Pierce  to  the  Presidency. 
But  the  introduction  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  Repeal,  by  Senator 
Douglas,  and  the  support  given  that  measure  by  General  Pierce,  soon 
separated  them  politically.  Mr.  Wentworth  left  them  with  regret.  He 
had  been  an  admirer  of  Douglas  ever  since  he  had  known  him,  and  hoped 
to  see  him  President  of  the  United  States.      And  his   admiration  for 


JOHN  WENTWORTH.  683 

President  Pierce  was  inherited,  as  his  own  liithrr  (Hon.  Panl  Wentworlh) 
liad  been  a  supporter,  not  only  of  the  President's  father  (Governor  Benjamin 
Pierce)  for  every  public  position  he  iiad  liehl,  but  in  the  Legislature,  the 
son  Franklin,  when  he  was  first  elected  Speaker  of  the  New  Hanipshire 
House  of  Representatives,  and  also  when  elected  United  States  Senator. 
His  sense  of  public  duty  overcame  his  personal  attachments,  and  when  the 
administration  added  to  its  slavery  policy  opposition  to  harbnr  and  river 
improvements,  he  could  not  sec  upon  what  livin<;  question  he  sympathized 
with  the  dominant  party.  So  he  took  sides  with  the  opposition  at  the 
next  election,  and  supported  General  Fremont  for  the  Presidency. 

The  public  records  prove  Mr.  Wentworth  one  of  the  most  efficient 
opponents  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Oniipromise,  as  well  as  of  every 
other  measure  that  could  be  construed,  by  even  the  most  fastidious,  to 
lessen  the  influence  of  free  labor  upon  the  country.  The  scene  when  he 
outgeneraled  the  opposition  to  Colonel  Benton  in  the  House,  will  never 
be  forgotten  bv  those  who  witnessed  it.  The  great  ]\Iissourian,  after 
having  served  so  long  in  the  Senate  as  to  have  acquired  the  title  of 
Pater  Senatm,  was  transferred  to  the  House,  and  was  about  making  his 
debut  upon  the  repeal  question.  The  friends  of  that  measure  knew  that, 
with  his  slow,  Senatorial  style  of  speaking,  he  could  not  produce  much 
effect  in  a  single  hour,  and  they  were  determined  that  the  "hour  rule" 
should  be  enforced  upon  him.  The  audience  was  such  a  crowded  (»ne  as 
only  a  man  of  his  eminence  could  call  out.  He  had  hardly  laid  out  his 
ground- work,  when  the  presiding  officer  raised  his  hammer;  but,  before 
it  fell,  Mr.  Wentworth  addressed  him,  and  was  recognizx'd,  and  he 
desired  to  give  the  gentleman  from  Missouri  such  a  portion  of  his  time  as 
would  enable  him  to  finish.  Objections  from  the  administration  men 
rang  throughout  the  House,  and  as  loudly  rang  appeals  in  his  favor  from 
the  others.  Amid  the  general  melee,  Colonel  Benton  seemed  nonplussed. 
He  had  been  in  the  habit  of  surmounting  all  obstacles,  but  the  relentless 
hour  rule  was  now  in  his  way.  ISIr.  Weutworth  loomed  up  amid  the 
crowd,  holding  the  floor  with  a  coolness  that  satisfied  those  who  knew 
him,  that  he  was  either  going  to  find  a  way  for  the  Colonel  to  deliver  his 
speech,  or  else  he  was  going  to  take  his  sheets  and  read  them  himself. 
Mr.  Wentworth  passed  him  a  note  to  move  an  amendment,  as  none  was 
pending.  To  use  Colonel  Benton's  own  words  afterwards:  "I  obeyed 
orders;  I  was  in  the  woods;  I  did  not  know  how  to  get  out;  I  had  been 
in  the  Senate  too  long  for  that  hour  rule."     "Can  I  otVer  an  aniendmeiit  ?'' 


68.4  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

said  lie.  "With  the  consent  of  the  gentleman  from  Illinois,"  was  the 
reply.  He  passed  up  his  amendment,  and  jNIr.  Went  worth  passed  to  him 
anothernote,  saying:  "Now  explain  it."  He  asked  if  he  could  explain 
his  amendment.  "If  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  surrenders  the  floor," 
was  the  rei)ly.  There  was  deep  sensation  in  the  ranks  of  the  Adminis- 
tration, their  leaders  looking  at  each  other  as  if  to  inquire:  "Can  this  be 
done?"  The  more  experienced  gave  it  up;  and  Colonel  Benton  Avas 
allowed  to  finish  his  last  great  speech  in  the  halls  of  legislation. 
Senator  Douglas  Avas  present,  and,  with  John  C.  Breckenridge,  came  to 
Wentworth's  seat,  after  Colonel  Benton  had  resumed,  and  said:  "The 
Abolitionists  are  quite  successful  under  their  new  leader."  Douglas  then 
little  dreamed  that  the  time  Avas  not  far  distant  when  Breckenridge  Avas 
to  taunt  him  in  the  same  way,  for  opposing  ]\Ir.  Buchanan's  administra- 
tion, as  Mr.  Wentworth  did  that  of  General  Pierce.  Colonel  Benton 
gave  a  large  dinner  party  in  honor  of  his  extrication  by  Mr.  Wentworth 
from  the  embarrassments  of  the  "hour  rule,"  and  entertained  his  guests 
to  a  late  hour  with  a  most  interesting  account  of  incidents  in  his  life,  but 
every  little  while  declaring  that  he  never  lost  his  composure  so  much  as 
Avhen  the  nullifiers  drove  him  up  against  the  hour  rule.  And  when  h.e 
made  his  last  visit  to  Chicago,  while  Mr.  AV^entworth  was  Mayor,  to 
deliver  his  lecture,  he  described  his  feelings  very  glowingly  to  a  large 
collection  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  Tremont  House.  He  said  he 
had  been  in  many  trying  emergencies;  he  had  traveled  on  horseback  from 
Missouri  to  Washington  when  the  country  Avas  a  Avilderness;  he  had  had 
conflicts  with  personal  enemies;  he  had  fought  the  enemies  of  his  country 
on  the  battle-field;  he  had  met  its  great  men  in  Senatorial  debate;  but  he 
had  never  appreciated  assistance  so  niuch  as  Avhen  his  friend  here  (taking 
Mayor  WentAvorth  by  the  han<l)  piloted  him  past  the  gag-law.  After 
much  labor  he  had  prepared  his  speech,  and  he  wanted  to  deliver  it;  and 
he  never  published  one  that  he  did  not  deliver;  but  after  all  his  labor, 
and  with  all  his  anxiety,  it  Avould  have  been  an  abortion  but  for  the 
Chicago  Representative. 

In  1857,  and  again  in  1860,  Mr.  Wentworth  Avas  elected  Mayor  of 
Chicago,  and  as  such  had  an  opportunity  to  prove  hoAV  sincere  he  had 
been,  as  editor  and  Congressman,  in  advocating  the  most  rigid  economy. 
He  found  a  large  floating  debt  against  tlie  city  Avlien  he  entered  upon  each 
of  his  terms;  and,  Avhen  he  closed  each  of  them,  he  left  not  a  dollar  of 
it  outstanding.     He  stopped  all  rows  at  the  elections,  and  made  access  to 


J 


V 

JOHN   WENTWORTH,  685 

the  polls  as  easy  as  to  i)rivate  (hvellings.  He  lodiiced  both  the  imiiilHT 
and  salaries  of  officials.  lie  summarily  cleared  our  streets  and  sidewalk.'^ 
of  obstructions.  He  demolished  the  houses  of  infamy  upon  the  "Sands." 
He  compelled  persons  erectint^,  repairing  or  removintr  l)uildHiti;s  to  <^ive 
bonds  })rotecting  the  city  against  damages  to  individuals.  He  established 
the  present  grade  of  the  city.  He  introduced  steam  fire-engines,  in  spite 
of  the  most  violent  opposition.  He  reduced  the  people's  tax6s,  and  raised 
the  credit  of  the  city. 

In  co-operation  with  the  English  Embassy  at  Washington,  he  went  to 
Montreal,  in  1860,  to  induce  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  change  the 
intended  route  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  through  the  ^V'^estern  British  Pos- 
sessions to  the  United  States,  and  submitted  a  programme,  so  far  as 
Chicago  was  concerned,  that  proved  satisfactory  to  our  citizens  and  to  the 
royal  party.  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  Minister  to  the  United  States, 
afterwards  wrote  him  a  letter  of  thanks,  as  also  did  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle, and  he  repeated  them  in  different  letters  afterwards.  And  the 
Prince  himself  sent  a  man,  at  his  own  expense,  expressly  to  deliver  to  him 
a  pair  of  Southdown  sheep  for  his  Summit  farm,  as  a  testimonial  of  his 
esteem. 

In  1861,  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  convention  to  revise  the 
Constitution  of  Illinois,  upon  a  fusion  ticket,  composed  of  half  Democrats 
and  half  Republicans,  both  parties  waiving  nominations. 

In  1863,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Board  of  Police  Commissioners, 
and  in  that  capacity  lie  became  associated  with  the  military  authorities  in 
ferreting  out  and  bringing  to  justice  the  conspirators  lo  liberate  the  rebel 
prisoners  in  Camp  Douglas,  who  were  to  burn  the  city  on  the  night  \mov 
to  the  election,  and  thus  came  in  possession  of  facts  that  he  successfully 
used,  while  a  Member  of  Congress,  to  defeat  the  ai)j)lieati(>n  of  their  leader 
for  a  pardon.  In  that  capacity,  also,  it  was  his  duty  to  aid  in  the  main- 
tenance of  law  and  order  while  the  great  concourse  was  here  which 
nominated  General  jNIcClellan  for  President.  Fears  were  entertained  that 
violence  would  ensue  if  ^Ir.  Vallandigham,  of  Ohio,  undertook  to  address 
our  people  in  the  open  air;  and  upon  the  evening  announced  for  his 
address,  Mr.  Wentworth  went  among.^t  the  most  excited  portion  of  the 
audience  and  successfully  urged  them  to  quietude.  At  the  close  of  Mr, 
Vallandigham's  address,  he  stepped  upon  tlie  Court  House  stcjys  and 
claimed  for  himself  the  same  courtesy  that  had  been  extended  to  Mr. 
Vallandigham.      He  tlieii    made   a   speech  to  the  assembly,    which   wus 


686  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

opposed  to  him  in  politics,  in  support  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration, 
which  ranked  among  liis  very  best  efforts,  and  was  circulated  through 
several  States  as  a  campaign  document. 

He  was  elected  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  in  1864,  from  a  District 
which,  under  the  census  of  1860,  was  composed  only  of  the  County  of 
Cook.  He  was  upon  the  Committee  of  Roads  and  Canals,  and  upon  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  As  a  member  of  the  former,  he  labored 
successfully  to  get  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  bill  through  the  House,  but  it 
failed  in  the  Senate.  The  latter  committee  is  a  little  Congress  of  itself. 
It  is  there  where  all  financial  bills  are  framed,  and  where  representatives 
of  all  the  trades  and  industries  are  in  constant  attendance.  It  sits  most 
of  the  time  while  the  House  is  in  session,  and  moruings  and  evenings 
besides.  Finance  was  the  main  question  when  he  first  wrote  for  the 
"  Chicago  Democrat,"  and  when  he  first  entered  public  life.  The  slavery 
question  had  overshadowed  it  for  many  years.  Upon  this  subject,  from 
first  to  last,  he  had  made  but  one  record.  The  war  being  over,  and 
slavery  abolished,  reconstruction  was  the  prevailing  question,  and  upon  it 
Mr,  Wentworth  signalized  himself  among  the  most  radical  of  the  radicals. 
As  reconstruction  began  to  be  settled,  finance  loomed  up  as  the  next 
question.  How  to  pay  the  debt,  and  resume  specie  payments  with  the 
least  distress  to  the  people,  were  questions  of  great  interest  to  him ;  and 
so,  whenever  he  could  leave  the  House  without  detriment  to  pending 
questions,  he  was  always  in  the  committee  room,  supporting  every 
measure  of  retrenchment  and  economy,  and  listening  to  the  suggestions 
of  its  numerous  visitors.  No  measure  looking  to  an  increase  of  public, 
expenditures,  the  repudiation  of  the  national  debt,  violation  of  contracts, 
or  to  a  postponement  of  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  ever  received 
any  encouragement  from  him. 

Mr.  WentM'orth,  all  through  his  editorial  and  official  life,  has  shown 
himself  not  only  a  man  of  decided  convictions,  but  has  proved,  on  many 
notable  occasions,  that  he  had,  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  the 
courage  to  follow  them.  He  has  ever  looked  upon  parties  as  only  necessary 
organizations  for  the  accomplishment  of  desirable  ends,  and  has  had  no 
party  attachments  beyond  his  decided  convictions  of  right,  always  having 
principles  which  he  wished  sustained  by  the  legislation  of  his  countr}^,  and 
always  seeking  that  political  organization  which  would  best  promote  this 
object.  And,  although  he  has  been  more  highly  honored  that  any  other 
citizen  of  Chicago  by  official   positions,  he  has  in  many  instances  fiung 


JOnX  WENTWORTH.  687 

away  such  honoi-s,  af2:ain.st  the  rem on^^t ranees  of  highly  vahied  Irieiuls, 
Avlien  their  attainment  rec^nired  a  compromise  of  well  settled  convictions. 
In  1854,  the  opposition  to  the  Democratic  party  was  not  consolidated  into 
a  single  organization,  as  it  now  is,  and  Mi-.  WCntworth  lich.n^cd  to  the 
"Free  Soil  Democratic  Party,"  in  eontradistiM<'ti(»n  to  that  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, the  Abolitionists,  the  Democrats,  and  the  Mhigs.  It  wits  the 
unanimous  desire  of  the  Free  Soil  Democrats  that  he  should  be  returned 
to  Congress,  and  the  Abolitionists  were  willing  to  gratify  tiiat  desire.  But 
these  two  organizations  could  not  alone  elect  their  candidate.  It  recpiired 
the  concurrence  of  the  Americans  to  enable  these  two  organizations  to 
outnumber  the  Whigs  and  Democrats,  each  of  which  party  was  determined 
to  run  a  separate  candidate.  The  Americans  were  desirous  of  fusing  with 
the  Free  Soil  Democrats  and  Abolitionists,  but  recpiired  that  the  candidate 
should  be  pledged  to  their  peculiar  views  as  to  the  i-ights  of  foreign  born 
residents.  A  committee  of  three  leading  citizens  called  upon  Mr.  Went- 
worth,  inviting  his  private  initiation  into  their  order,  with  the  assurance 
that  they  Mould  support  him  for  Congress.  He  ]>romptly  declined  the 
candidacy  upon  such  terms.  Again,  in  1866,  he  had  warm  advocates; 
but  the  laboring  classes  required  that  he  should  sign  a  pledge  of  his  honor 
as  a  man  to  introduce,  advocate,  and  vote  for  the  eight-hour  law,  but  he 
preferred  to  stand  by  the  rule  from  which  he  had  never  deviated,  to  make 
no  pledges,  except  that  which  every  honorable  man  gives  when  nominated 
for  office,  viz :  to  abide  by  tlie  platform  adopted  by  the  convention  at  t!ie 
time  of  his  nomination.  He  contended  that  it  would  be  no  honor  to 
himself,  and  no  triumph  to  the  Republican  party,  if  he  had  to  be  pledged 
to  an  outside  organization  to  get  his  election.  When  he  was  Mayor,  all 
the  city  patronage  Avas  in  Jiis  hands;  and  he,  being  bi'sought  to  make 
some  pledges  beforehand,  said  he  would  respond  at  the  next  public 
meeting;  and  in  Metropolitan  Hall,  before  an  immense  audience,  he 
denounced  all  such  attempts,  and  declared  that  under  no  circumstances 
would  he  appoint  any  man  to  office  who  ever  even  insinuated  that  he  ever 
had  the  least  encouragement  from  him  that  he  was  to  have  an  office. 
When  he  was  leaving  for  Congress,  at  one  time,  a  clergyman  said  to  him, 
"I  j)ray  God  to  give  you  courage  !"  Mr.  Went  worth  responded  :  ''You 
need  not  do  that ;  but  jiray  God  to  give  me  light — to  show  me  the  right; 
I  have  the  courage  already  to  follow  it." 

Mr.  Wentworth  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  agriculturists  in  the 
Northwest,  having  a  farm  of  two  thousand  live  hundred  acres,  grazed  by 


688  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

the  clioicest  selections  from  foreign  herds,  six  miles  from  the  city  limits; 
and  he  was  member  of  the  Agricultural  Board  from  the  State  at  large  at 
the  time  of  his  election  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress. 

At  the  time  of  the  consolidation  of  the  old  Galena  and  Chicago  Union 
Railroad  Company  Avith  the  Xorthwestern,  he  had  been  for  some  years 
a  Director  in  the  former  company,  and  won  the  admiration,  not  only  of 
the  stockholders,  but  of  the  people  all  along  the  line,  by  his  unflagging 
zeal  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  expenses,  to  correct  all  abuses,  and  to  accom- 
modate the  public — developing  the  same  administrative  ability  in  private 
as  in  official  affiiirs. 

Mr.  Weutworth  has  been  remarkable  for  habits  of  untiring  industry, 
and  for  keeping  such  control  of  his  private  business  that  lie  has  ever  been 
independent  of  political  results  to  himself  personally ;  and  therefore  he 
has  always  made  his  own  time  more  valuable  when  devoted  to  his  own 
private  pursuits  than  when  devoted  to  official  positions,  with  even  the 
highest  emoluments.  He  has  always  stepped  from  public  to  private  life 
with  profit  to  himself.  Xor  has  he  ever  been  concerned  in  any  means  of 
legislation  that  would  result  in  private  benefit  to  himself  or  any  of  his 
friends;  the  volumes  of  private  laws  passed  by  the  Illinois-  Legislature 
will  be  searched  in  vain  for  his  name;  and  the  originators  of  the 
numerous  indignation  meetings  in  Chicago,  against  different  schemes  of 
private  legislation,  have  never  failed  to  call  upon  him  for  his  immediate 
co-operation.  He  has  always  combated  that  system  of  morals  Mhich 
would  excuse  a  man  for  doing  in  his  corporate  capacity  what  would  be 
unjust  or  dishonest  in  his  individual  capacity — that  system  which  is  con- 
tinually making  individuals  very  rich,  while  the  corporations  which  they 
manage  become  proportionately  poor.  After  the  disastrous  explosion  of 
the  Illinois  State  General  Banking  System,  Avhich  Mr.  Wentworth  had 
opposed  from  the  beginning,  many  of  its  supporters  undertook  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  consequences  of  their  measures  by  deducting  from 
the  dues  to  their  depositors  the  difference  between  good  and  the  depre- 
ciated money;  and  a  bank  in  which  Mr.  Wentworth  had  a  small  interest 
so  far  imitated  this  example  as  to  make  a  comparatively  small  deduction 
in  such  cases.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  stockholders  thereafter,  Mr. 
Wentworth  took  the  ground  that  this  deduction  should  be  refunded,  and 
the  measure  was  carried,  although  no  other  institution  similarly  situated 
has  ever  made  such  a  restitution. 

Mr.  Wentworth  has  also  been  remarkable,  as  a  writer  and  speaker. 


JOHN   WENTWORTH.  G89 

for  conveyino;  his  itleus  in  tlie  fewest  possible  wonls,  mid  for  Iiis  sueeess 
in  coiiiMiaiulino;  the  closest  attention  of  proniiscuons  audiencrs.  His 
portrait,  painted  hy  Ilealy,  in  1858,  for  (he  ( '(iniiiion  (Vmncil  ( 'hanilxT, 
is  pronouneed  one  of  the  best  works  of  that  distinguished  artist. 


i 


INDEX. 


Page. 

ALLEX,  J.  A 437 

ALLPORT,  WALTER  WEBB 107 

ANDREWS,   EDMUND 355 

ARNOLD,  ISAAC  N 407 

BLAIR,  WILLIAM C 105 

BLAKELEY,  DAVID 547 

BOONE,  LEVI  D 273 

BOTSFORD,  J.   K 331 

BOWEN,  CHAUNCEV    T ...59I 

BOWEN,  JAMES  II '.489 

BOYINGTON,  WILLIAM    W 215 

BROOKS,  DATUS  C 501 

BROSS,  WILLIAM 35 

BRYAN,  THOMAS   B G5 

BRYANT,  HENRY  B 503 

BURROUGHS,  JOHN   C 583 

BYFORD,  WILLIAM   HEATH -I7 

CHESBROUGH,  ELLIS    SYLVESTER 1«^1 

CHURCH,  THOMAS 127 

COBB,  SILAS  B 251 

COLLYER,  ROBERT 381 

COOLBAUGH,  WILLIAM   F I77 

CREWS,  HOOPER 531 

DAKE,  JOSEPH  M 553 

DAVIS,   NATHAN  SMITH  81 

DICKEY,  HUGH   T •. 429 

DORE,  JOHN  C 485 

DRUMMOND,  THOMAS II7 

DUCAT.   ARTHUR  CHARLES 347 


692  INDEX. 

Page. 

DUNLAP,  GEORGE  L 467 

DYER,  CHARLES  VOLNEY .,. 73 

EDDY,  THOMAS  M 289 

ELY,  EDWARD 207 

EVERTS,  WILLIAM  W 141 

FARGO,  JAMES  C 463 

FARWELL,  JOHN   V 97 

FELSENTHAL,  BERNHARD 397 

FOX,  HARRY 481 

FULLER,  OLIVER  F 211 

GARDNER,  FREELAND  B 495 

GILES,  WILLIAM   A 511 

GINDELE,  JOHN  G 619 

GOODRICH,  GRANT 239 

GREENEBAUM,  HENRY 257 

GRIGGS,  SAMUEL  C 299 

HANCOCK,  JOHN  L 157 

HAYES,  SAMUEL  SNOWDEN 635 

HEALY,  GEORGE  P.  A 627 

HESING,  ANTHONY  C 203 

HIBBARD  JOHN  RANDOLPH 517 

BILLIARD,   LAURIN   PALMER 545 

HINSDALE,  HENRY  W 477 

HOARD,  SAMUEL 401 

HOES,  JAMES  H 307 

HOFFMANN,  FRANCIS  A 367 

HOLDEN,  CHARLES  N 385 

HONSINGER,  EMANUEL 283 

HOYNE,  THOMAS 47 

HUMPHREY,  Z.   M 445 

INTRODUCTION 3 

JOHNSON,  HOSMER   ALLEN 229 

JONES,  JOSEPH   RUSSELL '. 121 

JONES,  WILLIAM 59 

JUDD,  NORMAN  B 659 

KERFOOT,  SAMUEL  H 313 

LARNED,  EDWIN  CHANNING 537 

LUDLAM,  REUBEN 521 

MANN,  ORRIN  L 373 

McARTHUR,  JOHN 223 

McCLURG,  ALEXANDER  C 569 


INDEX.  693 

Page, 

MILLER,   A.   HALSEV 235 

NIXON,  WILSON   K 293 

OGDEN,  WILLIAM  B 11 

OSBORNE,  THOMAS  0 109 

PALMER,  POTTER Gil 

PATTERSON,  R.  W 569 

PULLMAN,  GEORGE  M 471 

RANDALL,  GURDON  P 327 

RICE,  JOHN  B 01-3 

ROOT,  GEORGE    FREDERICK 103 

RYDER,  WILLIAM  HENRY 301 

SALOMON,  EDWARD  S 391 

SCAMMON,  JONATHAN  YOUNG 25 

SCHUTTLER,  PETER 24) 

SHEAHAN,  JAMES   W 435 

SHERMAN,  FRANCIS  C 025 

SHIPMAN,  GEORGE  E 005 

SHUMAN,  ANDREW 1B5 

SKINNER,  MARK 597 

SMALL,  ALVIN  EDMOND 549 

SMITH,  CHARLES  G 241 

SMITH,   DAVID   SHEPPARD 505 

SMITH,  HENRY  M 529 

SMITH,  PERRY  H 343 

STOREY,  WILBUR  F 133 

TOBEY,   CHARLES 417 

TRUMBULL,   LYMAN 457 

TYLER,  JAMES    E 201 

UPTON,  GEORGE  P 451 

VAN  OSDEL,  JOHN  M 91 

VOLK,  LEONARD  W 335 

WADSWORTH,  ELISHA  S 181 

WADSWORTH,  I'HILIP 207 

WALLACE,  M.  R.   M ; r, 441 

WENTWORTH,    JOHN 071 

WHITE,  HORACE 353 

WILKIE,  FRANC  B 577 

WILSON,  CHARLES   L Ill 

WILSON,  JOHN   M 423 

WOODWORTH.  JAMES  H 149 


